Monday, 12 March 2012 It was reported that Target’s data analysis had allowed it to know that a teenage girl was pregnant before her parents did. By monitoring customers' spending behavior, Target is able to predict the trimesters of pregnancies to a close degree. This enables them to send out relevant coupons to all mums-to-be and encourage sales of baby products. Whilst highly efficient, this has led to people feeling uneasy that Target knew they were pregnant even though they had never told the company. The example quoted in the story linked below resulted from a father complaining to Target that his teenage daughter (who was still in high school) had been sent coupons for maternity and baby clothes. It transpired that the girl was indeed pregnant, but had not yet spoken to her father. Results from data analysis understandably show that customers are more receptive if the targeted marketing is more subtle (such as being interspersed with other offers). Target has now altered its strategy to stop its customers feeling like they’re being watched by big brother. More in the link below: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/