Georgia resident Andy Morar is in the market for a BMW. So recently he sent a note to a showroom near Atlanta, using a form on the dealer's website to provide his name and contact information.

佐治亚州萨凡纳(Savannah)的安迪·莫勒(Andy Morar)打算买一辆宝马汽车(BMW)。于是最近他发了一封简短的邮件给亚特兰大附近的一个汽车展销厅，邮件中使用了经销商网站上的表格来提供了他的姓名和联系方式。

His note went to the dealership -- but it also went, without his knowledge, to a company that tracks car shoppers online. In a flash, an analysis of the auto websites Mr. Morar had anonymously visited could be paired with his real name and studied by his local car dealer.

他的邮件发到了经销商那里──但是在他不知情的情况下，这封邮件也落到了一家在网上追踪汽车消费者的公司手里。转瞬之间，当地的汽车经销商就能把莫勒匿名访问过的汽车网站和他的真名对应起来并对其进行研究。

When told that a salesman on the showroom floor could, in effect, peer into his computer activities at home, Mr. Morar said: 'The less they know, the better.'

当得知展厅的销售人员实际上可以窥探他在家中的电脑操作行为时，莫勒说：“他们知道得越少越好。

The widening ability to associate people's real-life identities with their browsing habits marks a privacy milestone, further blurring the already unclear border between our public and private lives. In pursuit of ever more precise and valuable information about potential customers, tracking companies are redefining what it means to be anonymous.

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