Re: value of privacy?

[baumbach@atmel.com ( )]

> example, it doesn't _hurt_ me to get targeted junk mail, but I find it 
> unsettling that direct marketers know enough about me to send the 'right' 
> mail. I see it this way; 'they' make decisions about me and initiate a 
> relationship with me without my knowledge or consent. The relationship is
> artificial and uneven; 'they' know more about me than I know about 'them'.

An idea that I have never used, but was suggested to me by my father, goes
like this:

RING RING

me: Hello

??: Mr. Peter Baumbach, I am calling from ICK inc. to offer you ..

me: Excuse me, but I am busy right now. Could you give me your name and
   home phone number, and I will call you back later?

??: Huh? I can't give you my home number, that's private.

me: But you know my name and number.  This hardly seems fair.