Doubleclick's own privacy policy states that they are correlating your online data with the offline data that Abacus has compiled. Information volunteered by a user on an Abacus Alliance Web site is associated by Abacus through the use of a match code and the DoubleClick cookie with other information about that individual. Information in the Abacus Online database includes the user's name, address, retail, catalog and online purchase history, and demographic data. The solution to this problem isn't to ban or badmouth cookies.
Most privacy policies are non-existent or are filled with legalese.
We need privacy policies that are clear and easy for people to understand. Another step would be to create standardized, machine-readable privacy policies. Does the site collect personal information. Then software developers could start building applications that give users control over their online privacy. Over a year ago DoubleClick quietly announced that they planned on correlating the Abacus data with their cookie readings.