The true power of Big Data

Amazing story in the New-York times about how much retail companies know about our shopping habits:

Andrew Pole had just started working as a statistician for Target in 2002, when two colleagues from the marketing department stopped by his desk to ask an odd question: “If we wanted to figure out if a customer is pregnant, even if she didn’t want us to know, can you do that? ”

If you've ever wondered why and what information stores collect about you... Well now you know.

From http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all