Risky Business

[Dover]

A friend recently announced that she had met a man through the online dating system called E-Harmony, which is one of many such cyber-dating sites. I've met him and like him very much and think there is a very real possibility that they'll marry.
But I also felt uneasy about the process by which this particular dating system works, because it uses extensive personality profiling (she said it took her a couple of hours to fill out the questionaire). My uneasiness did not stem from the use of such data in finding a good match, but with the knowledge that this data that is being provided by the lovelorn is so thorough and so easily surrendered to an unknown entity...in this case E-Harmony.

Now before you accuse me of tinfoiling or paranoia, hear me out.
First of all, we all know that Big Brother is a reality that is only gaining momentum in this country...particularly under Bushco.
People like Bolton, who are so brazen in their use of private information to turn it against another,is just par for the course with this control-crazed group. And as we know, credit card companies have been accumulating personal buying habits for decades for use in our 'protection'. I have been called and quized by my credit card company when I once strayed too far from my personal buying habits, and wouldn't let me go until they had a fuller understanding about WHY I made the type of purchases I did...which did not, so far, fit my profile. That was an eye-opener! On the one hand, this type of security might save me a fortune in fraudulent charges one day. On the other hand this collected data might become part of a larger databank in order to profile consumerism...or worse, could conceivably be used to determine my political leanings or other info, such as is already happening under the Patriot Act. They want to even know what we READ, as libraries, too, have become information collection systems.

And most recently Bushco's plan for collecting the results of mental health testing on children in schools, just validated my fears that they want inside our heads and those of our children.
New Freedom Initiative - http:www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/toc-2004.html)
http://www.sierratimes.com/05/05/16/24_209_102_203_25370.htm
http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/2004-06-19-Bush-screen-US-mental-illness.htm

When I saw this article on the 'evangelical' roots of E-Harmony owner Neil Clark Warren, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050528/NEWS/505280315/1021

On this online "dating" site, one provides one's real name and gives the most thorough personality test I've ever seen. What easier way to collect profiles is there than that? People are, of course, wanting to answer sincerely so as to find their truest match.

So a cautionary note to my fellow freedom lovers and lovelorn...

Think twice before surrendering your personal information.

[Dover]

1. Any E-harmony stories here at DU?