Rather than do my own ranting, I think I will let an MSN correspondent do it for me . . . .
http://slate.msn.com/id/2109477/
And you might also want to read this . . . .
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.07/shoppers.html?pg=1
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/04/11/wo_garfinkel110304.asp
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/services/privacy/cards20041024.ram (that one is a video)