The Wall Street Journal is so serious about covering the explosion in online data tracking, the paper has even outed itself.

From the WSJ’s Weekend Edition:

They Know What You’re Shopping For

‘You’re looking at the premium package, right?’ Companies today are increasingly tying people’s real-life identities to their online browsing habits.

Georgia resident Andy Morar is in the market for a BMW. So recently he sent a note to a showroom near Atlanta, using a form on the dealer’s website to provide his name and contact information.

His note went to the dealership—but it also went, without his knowledge, to a company that tracks car shoppers online. In a flash, an analysis of the auto websites Mr. Morar had anonymously visited could be paired with his real name and studied by his local car dealer.

When told that a salesman on the showroom floor could, in effect, peer into his computer activities at home, Mr. Morar said: “The less they know, the better.”

Read the rest at Sneak Adtack.