rsalz@bbn.com (Rich Salz) (11/26/90)
Lotus Development Corporation has a new product due out in 1991, called
"Household Marketplace." It's a database on CDROM. It has the estimated
income and a profile of the buying habits of 120 million US residents.
That's a high percentage of the US population -- the odds are pretty good
that YOU are in the Lotus database.
A Lotus spokesman has said that the company is concerned about privacy
issues, so to help prevent misuse of the data only legitimate businesses
can get the disk. With easy access to a laser printer, a POBox, and/or a
fax machine, however, it is hard to see how Lotus can determine the
legitimacy of anyone, however, and I'm sure that with minor effort almost
anyone will be able to purchase Marketplace. The cost, by the way, is
under $1000 with quarterly updates available.
The database does not contain any of the data covered by the Fair Credit
Practices Act so Lotus is under no legal obligation to let you see what
they are saying about you. In fact, during interviews they have said that
there is NO WAY for an individual to review their personal data, nor are
there any provisions to make corrections on what is recorded.
Lotus will remove anyone from their database who writes to them.
Send a letter to:
Lotus Development Corp.
Attn: Market Name Referral Service
55 Cambridge Parkway
Cambridge, MA 02142