In this article, Kashmir Hill attempts to educate the public on Target’s information-gathering methods and algorithms. The article begins by informing the reader that companies and retailers research their customers to induce purchases via coupons and “exclusive” offers, and thus increased revenue. Next, Hill defers to the New York Times’ Charles Duhigg editorial to explain how Target pinpoints its advertising. These advertisements are accomplished by a “Guest ID number” linked to a customer’s credit card, name, or email address. Duhigg continues that Target’s computer algorithms then trawl through this ID number’s purchase history. Finally, this algorithm then predicts the most effective advertisement, in this case pregnancy goods, and sends
