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  3. When we worry about who might be spying on our private lives, we usually think about the Federal agents. But the private sector

When we worry about who might be spying on our private lives, we usually think about the Federal agents. But the private sector

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问题     When we worry about who might be spying on our private lives, we usually think about the Federal agents. But the private sector outdoes the government every time. It’s Linda Tripp, not the FBI, who is facing charges under Maryland’s laws against secret telephone taping. It’s our banks, not the Internal Revenue Service(IRS), that pass our private financial data to telemarketing firms.
    Consumer activists are pressing Congress for better privacy laws without much result so far. The legislators lean toward letting business people track our financial habits virtually at will.
    As an example of what’s going on, consider U. S. Bancorp, which was recently sued for deceptive practices by the state of Minnesota. According to the lawsuit, the bank supplied a telemarketer called Member Works with sensitive customer data such as names, phone numbers, bank account and credit-card numbers, Social Security numbers, account balances and credit limits.
    With these customer lists in hand, Member Works started dialing for dollars — selling dental plans, video games, computer software and other products and services. Customers who accepted a "free trial offer" had, 30 days to cancel. If the deadline passed, they were charged automatically through their bank or credit-card accounts. U.S. Bancorp collected a share of the revenues. Customers were doubly deceived, the lawsuit claims. They didn’t know that the bank was giving account numbers to Member Works. And if customers asked, they were led to think the answer was no.
    The state sued Member Works separately for deceptive selling. The company defends that it did anything wrong. For its part, U. S. Bancorp settled without admitting any mistakes. But it agreed to stop exposing its customers to nonfinancial products sold by outside firms. A few top banks decided to do the same. Many other banks will still do business with Member Works and similar firms.
    And banks will still be mining data from your account in order to sell you financial products, including things of little value, such as credit insurance and credit-card protection plans.
    You have almost no protection from businesses that use your personal accounts for profit. For example, no federal law shields "transaction and experience" information — mainly the details of your bank and credit-card accounts. Social Security numbers are for sale by private firms. They’ve generally agreed not to sell to the public. But to businesses, the numbers are an open book. Self-regulation doesn’t work. A firm might publish a privacy-protection policy, but who enforces it?
    Take U. S. Bancorp again. Customers were told, in writing, that "all personal information you supply to us will be considered confidential." Then it sold your data to MemberWorks. The bank even claims that it doesn’t "sell" your data at all. It merely "shares" it and reaps a profit. Now you know.
We know from the passage that______.
选项 A、legislators are acting to pass a law to provide better privacy protection
B、most states are turning a blind eye to the deceptive practices of private businesses
C、the state of Minnesota is considering drawing up laws to protect private information
D、lawmakers are inclined to give a free hand to businesses to inquire into customers’ buying habits
答案B
解析 引申题。第二段“The legislators lean toward letting business people track ourfinancial habits virtually at will．”立法者偏向企业，允许他们随意跟踪我们的花钱习惯。推出B项的很多州对企业的欺骗行为睁一眼，闭一眼。
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