That's the general impression from this Techdirt post.

The program, dubbed "Relevance-X" (not a great name from a trust standpoint mind you) is described as follows in one article:

And then it will tag your computer with a "cookie" identifying your life stage and match that with the type of site you are visiting to determine which ad to show.

It would surprise more than a few people to find out that companies regularly and publicly engage in such practices.  The key is what degree of anonymity the consumer retains.  Here, Acxiom's spokesperson states that the user's anonymity is not compromised:


I can see how Acxiom protects your identity vis a vis the online retailer, but there's no doubt that Acxiom is "adding" to your profile.  Acxiom likely has your identity in hand which it provides to its partner in coded form in response to disclosure by the partner of your impending purchase (or search).  Since Acxiom's database is built the old fashion way (not like the online networks - with cookies) the chances are high that Acxiom knows exactly who you are and adds the online retailer's information to your profile.  So I may suggest taking Acxiom's words with a grain of salt.

NB: Law Prof. James Grimmelman:  Facebook and Blockbuster together violate the Video Privacy Protection Act.  He makes a convincing argument, although the key will be pinning responsibility for the disclosure by Facebook on Blockbuster.  I would guess Facebook/Blockbuster will assert a waiver argument as well.  [Concurring Opinions]