Comment Re:Depends on the Problem (Score 3, Insightful) 179
It's true that you lose some anonymity, but there is so much to gain. To be perfectly honest, I'm completely fine with rating products on Amazon.com and Netflix - I only go to these sites to shop for products and movies, so why not take full advantage of their recommendation system? If I am in consumer mode, I want the salesman to be as competent as possible.
Anyways, if you're paranoid about data on you being used - there's a less well-known field of recommender systems which uses implicit data gathering which can be easily setup on any site. For example, it might say that because you clicked on product X many times today, you're probably in want of it and they can use that data. Of course, implicit data gathering is more faulty than explicit data gathering, but it just goes to show that if you spend time on the internet, websites can always use your data for their own means.
Anyways, if you're paranoid about data on you being used - there's a less well-known field of recommender systems which uses implicit data gathering which can be easily setup on any site. For example, it might say that because you clicked on product X many times today, you're probably in want of it and they can use that data. Of course, implicit data gathering is more faulty than explicit data gathering, but it just goes to show that if you spend time on the internet, websites can always use your data for their own means.
