Re:Credit Card data (Score 1)

I checked into this. Forrester's data came from its "ultimate consumer panel." This was an opt-in panel. This article explains how the panel worked. http://www.crm2day.com/news/crm/EpAEppEyVVlCsoqPmC .php

Forrester Research, Inc. announced the launch of Forrester's Ultimate Consumer Panel(TM) (Ultimate), a single-source, opt-in, highly secure panel that electronically captures online and offline behavior from a representative group of more than 10,000 US households.

This panel, by the way, was recently sold to another market research company.http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/ 0,1769,1101,00.html

Sorry guys -- nothing scandalous. This was totally legit research. They didn't have access to *everyone's* data or even *your* data, just those who opted in.