I’m sure you’ve experienced it before; you buy something on Amazon and every two months they try to sell you the same item again.

Sorry, power door lock actuators are not a commonly recurring purchase at my house. The first one lasted 15 years, I hope the one you sold me in September lasts at least 10 years.

What has caught my ire recently is their predicative marketing. I purchased a in-line booster fan for the long dryer duct in the attic. A few days later I was getting recommendations for hydroponic systems and grow lights. Apparently, ahem, indoor gardeners, ahem, use in-line duct fans to maintain the proper environment in their humid, warm grow rooms. Amazon thinks I’m a pot farmer because I bought a fan.

More recently I received recommendations for gold panning and prospecting gadgets. Why? I reload my own ammunition and bought a bag of wet tumbling media.

The issue is that Amazon has profiled me as a pot farmer because of an innoccous item I bought. What else could they profile me as? I bought a digital scale for weighing powder charges, could that profile me as a cocaine dealer? Should I expect suggestions to purchase little ziplock bags as well?

Also, who else do they share data mining with? Will my personal life come under scrutiny by a three letter agency? Data mining is a slippery slope.