I feel stupid, naive, and completely wrong, but am not sure why.
This is your chance to school me HN (or resort to calling me names). Learn me something good ya'll!
Here's a potential example that might show the limits of privacy-- online or otherwise. It was an anecdote provided by Charles Duhigg from his new book "The Power of Habit" (excerpt here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.h...). The story is that a father discovered that his teenage daughter was pregnant because Target sent selected coupons to their home, addressed to the daughter. You can read how Target figured that one out-- very fascinating data and statistical analysis -- but the point is this. A guy such as yourself, who follows the law and has nothing to be embarrassed about, might still feel a little uneasy about how much others know about you and the people in your life, and the purchasing decisions you all make. At the very least, I think most people would say that they would rather hear the truth about something as personal as their daughter's pregnancy from the daughter, rather than from a corporation analyzing your data.
Having said all that, we have benefited greatly from Google, Facebook, etc. So I am also conflicted about this issue.