The site's privacy policy says individual information will not be shared with the public, but maybe they just don't know how this technology thing works. It may not seem like a major concern if someone knows you bought a Maytag washer/dryer combo six years ago, but Sears should be worried that the information is out there. It's a gold mine for competitors — imagine what Best Buy could do with this information. Or a burglar casing his next heist.

The researchers argue that Sears fails to disclose its relationship with ComScore. Mentioning the tracking application and its purposes pages into a dense privacy statement and end-user l icense does not count, they say. Sears disagrees, but the Federal Trade Commission may well think otherwise. The FTC has recently set standards for disclosure and consent related to third parties installing tracking software on users' computers. The required disclosure should be clear, prominent, unavoidable, and separate from any other licensing agreements.

While Sears is taking all the flak for the tracking software, it's really the problem of its business partner, ComScore, and the entire Internet-tracking industry. Why the deception? Because the benefits from the software flow to ComScore and other usage trackers, not the users being tracked. If Sears flashed even a token $5 discount at these people, you can bet they'd gladly hand over their privacy rights.