The first is the expropriating and making public of personal information without permission. Besides being ethically questionable, a company may release information, without accountability, that harms individuals. Some laws regulate specific types of information, such as credit, medical records or even video rentals. However, no laws about personal data in general exist, and companies take the liberty to sell any unprotected piece of information that is deemed profitable to them. These profits are the second problem.
Businesses understandably try to maximize profits from their activities.
It is not surprising that as technology enabled them to compile and transfer huge lists of names easily, then even small values that are associated with each name were accumulated to handsome profits. The value in an individual's name belongs to the individual, celebrity and homeless alike. Yet companies have so far neglected to ask us for such permission. The third problem is the annoyance and waste that we endure from the unrequested solicitations. Call it the loss of time, call it invasion of privacy, call it needless waste of paper and other resources.