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All it takes for someone to identify you is 33 bits. 33 bits isn’t a magical number, it’s just that 2 to the power of 33 happens to be close to the number of people on the face of the planet. If you ask the right 33 yes or no questions about a person, one can identify a specific person anywhere – sometimes with far fewer questions. With all the traces of data you leave on websites such as facebook, twitter, etc it’s pretty easy to identify you, as well as your shopping habits, college major, favorite foods, income, address, how many children you have – and the list goes on.

IT should come as no surprise that companies are capitalizing on the breadcrumbs you leave behind while surfing the net. xplusone.com states they “serve the right message, to the right person, at the right time.”

What if this system of ultra-targeted advertising could be manipulated in your favor? It seems like the information you leave on the internet could be tweaked to show you in a better light.

If credit card companies are using where you shop to develop targeted credit card offers (like Capital One), it could be beneficial to pay cash at low end places like Wal-Mart, but to always pay with credit and tweet about your meals at expensive restaurants. Someone could possibly subscribe to golf and yachting magazines to boost their profile with high end retailers or creditors.

Next post: Credit cards and places to shop (or avoid) to boost your profile to merchants and lenders.

Related posts:

1. Lender data mining includes what you eat, where you shop, who you friend on facebook