Shoppers are then shown healthier choices. To add to that revenue, the site might display ads and coupons for nonfood items. Meanwhile, Smartmouth has drawn praise from privacy advocates by deleting each customer's name, address, phone number and Social Security number from its database. The user's card number is the only information identified. Advocates such as Jason Catlett of Junkbusters likes the fact that Smartmouth users can see the data grocers have collected.
Legal uncertainties remain.
California, for example, bars supermarkets from gathering and sharing customer data. Smartmouth believes its service is legal in the Golden State, however, and will try to recruit grocery chains there. As phones and PDAs become the preferred Net access devices and as tech companies continue to founder, don't be surprised to see more and more old PCs on the sidewalk waiting for the garbage truck. Unfortunately, PCs are neither cheap nor easy to recycle. In many states, citizens have to pay recyclers to take computers off their hands.