Anchoring Vignettes for Privacy (Business - Shopping)
Question:
How much privacy [do you / does 'Name'] have from merchants while shopping?
Response categories:
- Unlimited
- A lot
- Moderate
- Some
- None
Vignettes:
- [Susan] pays cash at a large, crowded department store and
provides no information about herself to the cashier.
- [Mary] pays with cash at the convenience store. The clerk
insists on recording her zip code on the computer generated receipt.
- [Carmen] pays with her credit card at the convenience store. The
clerk insists that she provide picture identification, as well as her
telephone number to record on the transaction slip.
- [Horace] goes to the drug store to buy film, which was advertised
to be on sale. He finds out at the store that in order to receive
the discount, he must apply for a courtesy card, which entails an
application requiring home address, work, and marital status.
- [Julio] applied for a courtesy card at the drug store, which
entailed an application requiring home address, work, and marital
status. Whenever he shops he receives by mail advertisements and coupons for alternatives to
the drugs that he usually purchases.
- [Evelyn] applies for a courtesy card at the drug store, which
entails an application requiring home address, work, and marital
status. Evelyn uses the middle initial "Q" on her application, even
though that is not her real middle initial. She now receives catalogs
in the mail from businesses that she has never patronized, all with
mailing labels that include the middle initial "Q."
- [Rosco] applies to join a local gym. The membership application includes questions about his health,
income, and criminal background. In addition, he is required to grant
permission for the search of public records and undergo a credit check.
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| Committee on Privacy in the
Information Age