Data privacy: What your zip code reveals about you

[antigop]

http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/18/pf/data-privacy/index.html

Don't give out your zip code when asked.

Every time you mindlessly give a sales clerk your zip code at checkout, you're giving data companies and retailers the ability to track everything from your body type to your bad habits.

That five-digit zip code is one of the key items data brokers use to link a wealth of public records to what you buy. They can figure out whether you're getting married (or divorced), selling your home, smoke cigarettes, sending a kid off to college or about to have one.

Such information is the cornerstone of a multi-billion dollar industry that enables retailers to target consumers with advertising and coupons. Yet, data privacy experts are concerned about the level at which consumers are being tracked without their knowledge -- and what would happen if that data got into the wrong hands.

Acxiom, one of the biggest data brokers in the business, claims to have a database that holds information -- including one's age, marital status, education level, political leanings, hobbies and income level -- on 190 million individuals. Major competitors, like Datalogix and CoreLogic, tout similarly vast databases.

In most cases, all that is needed to match the information these data brokers compile with what you buy is your full name — obtained when you swipe a credit card — and a zip code, according to data privacy experts. This allows them to figure out that you are the Sally Smith who lives in Butte, Mont., not the one who lives in Denver, for example.

hehe,,,maybe better yet give a wrong zip code

[aandegoons]

1. Interesting.

I thought it was to get the local taxes right. Pretty foolish of me I think.

[antigop]

3. never trusted why they were asking...turns out I was right. nt

[aandegoons]

8. I always thought about not putting in the right information at the gas station.

Maybe next time I will give it a try.

[Purveyor]

12. If you are using a credit card, your transaction won't be accepted. Our local BP started

Last edited Thu Apr 18, 2013, 06:35 PM - Edit history (1)

doing that about a year ago for 'pay at the pump'.

I have no problem with it as a means of validation of the cardholder.

[rickford66]

14. clarification

It WILL be excepted, but WON'T be accepted.

[Purveyor]

19. lol. Caught one did you!

[aandegoons]

15. All the gas stations around here do it also.

[JimDandy]

27. So far, the pump

is the only place I've found where the zip is used for verification of ID (Actually is a weak attempt to verify permission to use as zip code is readily available in a stolen wallet/purse). Anywhere else seems to be only for tracking.

[Ilsa]

2. Yeah, I think I'll start giving out bogus information

as long as certain credit cards aren't being used. Sometimes I need to input a zip for my Discover card to work.

[RKP5637]

6. Some of the machines at gas stations around here always

ask for your zip "supposedly" for security.

[GeorgeGist]

7. I've noticed that too but ...

Only when I'm outside my home zip.

[RKP5637]

11. The Lowe's here always asks for it too. Yep, when outside of my home zip I notice it too. I bet

if I put in my wrong zip the card would be declined at the gas pump. Ha, sometimes I'm ~ 1,000 + miles away ... so I'm not going to try it, but I'm curious.

[Jokerman]

17. I tried that just the other day and my card was rejected.

I had to start the transaction over again and put in the right code.

I won't be returning to that station.

[Mosby]

25. that is for security

you can always use a debit card instead.

[dem in texas]

4. Same way on the internet.

I purchased a pair of tennis shoes on the INTERNET. Now ads keep popping up about tennis shoes no matter what site I am on. First thing, I just bought a pair, why would I want another pair? The advertisers are wasting their time sending these ads my way.

[Jenoch]

9. Dump the cache on your internet browser.

[hlthe2b]

5. I don't like being tracked. For a long time, I'd try to carry cash instead of using my debit/credit

cards... But, it doesn't take more than a few times to realize how difficult that can make things. Beyond the potential theft issues carrying any major amount of cash, there is the fact that merchants REALLY do not like it--to the point they will make you wait two weeks for a check on a cash-paid, receipt-provided merchandise return. If you make a major "stink" they might relent, but who wants to have to do that?

That said, there are some things I won't buy with a debit/credit card. As I recently heard a consumer adviser say , "buy a gym membership with your credit card", but pay cash for the wine and any liquor or many of the OTC meds that might signal a medical issue (like acid reflux).


I suppose you could always make up a zipcode, but to me that is not the real issue.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. Our town has ONE zip code....

but the debit card is in the dog's name at a made up address and phone number.
So I declare partial victory...

[tularetom]

13. Every time I tell a clerk my zip code they snicker

Nobody bothers to send any ads for high end merchandise to the Appalachia of California.

[No Vested Interest]

16. Your header made me laugh! /nt

[Denis 11]

18. 10453= Bronx NY

Feel Free to Use It!

[santamargarita]

20. 90210

[lastlib]

21. Generally I give 'em my work zipcode.......

[Blue_Tires]

24. +1

[smirkymonkey]

22. Did I miss somethng? I did not see a zip code looker up there.

I live in a pretty high rent zip code, but I am not really the typical demographic. Most people are married with kids while I am not. I am probably about the average age and I am more Northern European looking than most people in my housing complex. It is a pretty diverse group.

Still, it is basically the backroom of Mass General Hospital, so it is basically a medical community. It's kind of like MGH is the University and all our housing here are like the dorms.

[Thor_MN]

23. Uh, what?

"In most cases, all that is needed to match the information these data brokers compile with what you buy is your full name — obtained when you swipe a credit card — and a zip code"

If I swipe a credit card, they have everything they need to know. Adding a zip code doesn't give them anything they can't already get. My zip code alone gives someone a 1 in 27000 chance of identifying me. My name alone gives a 1 in 2, the only other person with my name is my father.

A store that I go to often asks zip code, I know that it is for the purpose of seeing how far people are traveling to shop at that store. If they are pulling lots of people from a zip code 20 miles away, it may make sense to open a store there. If two of their stores are sniping from each other, it may make sense to move one further away. Not every marketing study is a evil scheme to destroy your privacy. If you are concerned, pay with cash and stop giving them your ID with a card swipe.

[4dsc]

26. I always give out fake info

Some stores even ask for my phone number and I have a fake one of those too.

[yurbud]

28. memorize the zip code to a prison or cemetery