Yes this is old news in many ways.
Even whenI was in college 20 years ago, I knew every purchase I made at wal mart was saved to determine my spending habits.
But the blatant abuse and scope might be news. Or not.
The World Privacy Forum uncovered these lists, along with several others, while investigating how data brokers collect and sell consumer information. Marketers buy this data so they can target shoppers based on everything from their income to clothing size.
Other lists the nonprofit found included the home addresses of police officers, a mailing list for domestic violence shelters (which are typically kept secret by law) and a list of people with addictive behaviors towards drug and alcohol.[/quote
http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/18/pf/data-broker-lists/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
