Big Brother knows what brand of shampoo you buy

More and more stores are asking for very personal information as you checkout. I usually dismiss the cashiers with a simple, "You don't need to know that."

But tonight was the first time a cashier actually started to argue with me about the reasons such data is collected. It went something like this:

Cashier: Do you have your S-Mart Bonus Card?
Jeff: No.
C: What's your phone number?
J: You don't need to know that.
C: [blinks]
J: It's an invasion of privacy.
C: Do you want your discount or not?
J: You're going to sell my phone number to telemarketers.
C: You can give me any old phone number. I don't care.
J: Ok, 248-xxx-xxxx.
C: [dutifully types it in]
J: Now I get a discount, and my dentist will get strange telephone calls.
C: That's not why we ask for your phone number. It's so if you lose your Bonus Card, you can still get your discount. If I don't ask for your phone number, then the service desk yells at me...

That's about all I can remember. The cashier was extraordinarily bitchy, and I think she muttered "Fuck you" when I told her to have a good night.

Why are people so intent on helping Big Brother out?

(Oh, and I use Protene Pro-V. Stick that up your Oracle database and smoke it.)