Query to Politech over cardscan.net and privacy [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Please obscure my contact information if you post this to politech;  you can
refer to me as simply "Erik".

I got a message from an IT research vendor to whom I gave a business card at
a trade show recently.  The representative uploaded my contact information to
a site called cardscan.net. This site in turn sent me an email on the
representative's behalf stating that I was being asked to update my
information and that others who may also have my information and who use
Cardscan's services would also receive the updated information.  I was given
the chance to opt out (sounds kinda spammy, don't it?) and I did.  Their
privacy policy (http://www.corex.com/privacy.asp?csnet=1) seems at first
glance to be privacy friendly but I still have a few problems with the
concept of the service in general:

- I am not given the chance to opt in
- Personal data is transferred without my knowledge or consent
- Opt-out is the default

Do you know of anyone else who might have complained about this?  Am I being
too overly privacy-sensitive?  Is the mention of this service worthwhile to
Politech readers?

Thanks,
[x]
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