Pacific Bell, either ignorant or blatantly apathetic, wanted to send unsolicited sales pitches to customers with unlisted phone numbers. PacBell seems to be saying you can run, but you can't hide. In an unrelated event, AOL turned over personal data about an individual's sexual preferences to the U.S. Navy without the individual's consent. Financial services giant American Express announced plans to sell extensive information on its cardholders to merchants. This data is like a pile of cash sitting in the corner.
Smaller companies can get into the act, too.
Now the friendly and helpful mailman knows your medical history. GTE accidentally published 50,000 unlisted phone numbers and addresses. However, GTE expressed its deepest apology over the incident so it shouldn't be held legally or morally responsible for the consequences to the personal safety of police officers and crime victims who had this information unexpectedly divulged. Microsoft acknowledged that their Office software products utilized a serial number that could be used to trace every document an individual creates. In an attempt to support e-commerce, Intel announced a plan to place serial numbers in its Pentium chips.