BUS 610

Economics

Problem VI

Due:	29 November

DoubleClick, Inc., is one of the largest and most important "data mining" firms now collecting information about households' and consumers' behavior on the Net. DoubleClick says it has profiles on almost 100,000,000 American households developed from observing and recording Net behavior, or from other sources.

Individuals, consumer interest groups, editorialists, and legislators have called variously for a ban on all such information collecting, or for a ban on such activities unless they are disclosed. Many have advocated rules that will restrict how such information and data may be used, or sold.

A)	What benefits do data mining firms argue consumers as a group receive from data

mining activities?

B)	What costs to consumers might be associated with data mining?

C)	Having specified (A) and (B), will consumers as a group be better off or worse off it

the various bans or rules are implemented?

Explain why and how.