100 Slaves 100 Enemies

The New York Times reports that your information is getting collected when you go to the pharmacy, and while there are some measures to protect your privacy there are leaks. The pharmacies turn around and sell your information to marketers for millions of dollars. The Obama administration enacted some protections of this information in the federal stimulus package, but it won’t matter unless someone enforces them.

The Washington Post reports that more information might be collected about you through cookies when you visit government web sites. (via @allisonkilkenny) This is important because there has been a long standing ban on cookies on federal web sites. Not that this ban has prevented the use of cookies on federal web sites. A CBS news article from 2002 called CIA Caught Sneaking Cookies concludes, “Congress issued a study last summer that found 300 cookies still on the Web sites of 23 agencies despite the government ban.”

For a lengthier explanation on privacy and cookies you can visit the page How Internet Cookies Work from the HowStuffWorks web site. For the concise version, Kilkenny sums it up in a tweet:

The article says it would track cookies, which usually record preferences,name,interests, whatever “auto fill” info you’ve used in the past.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration continues to block “the release of photos showing the abuse of prisoners held in overseas facilities.” Privacy OK for the government, for you it’s a crap shoot. Good luck.

Dean Baker puts pharmaceutical generosity in perspective:

How Generous Is the Pharmaceutical Industry?

Readers might be wondering that after hearing the pharmaceutical industry is pledging itself to $80 billion in savings on drug prices over the next decade. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services the country will spend more than $3.5 trillion on drugs over the next decade. This means that the drug industry’s offer is equal to a bit more than 2 cents for every dollar of revenue. By contrast, if drugs sold in a competitive market, without patent monopolies, the savings would probably be more than $3 trillion.

–Dean Baker