Data collection and the dehumanization of family tragedy

Mike Seay was reminded of a family tragedy by the front of a junk mail envelope. The letter, sent from office supply company OfficeMax, noted the detail “Daughter Killed in Car Crash” just underneath Seay’s name. The personal information, The Wall Street Journal says, came from customer data collected by gift retailer Things Remembered Inc. The Wall Street Journal questions why the retailer — from whom Seay had purchased photo frames — first kept, and then sold Seay’s most personal information, and how this kind of mistake can happen in the fast-moving data collection industry.