Beware. You're on Angie's List.

Imagine the following.

You are scrolling through a list of movies on Netflix, pausing to click on descriptions of several before you finally settle on, say, “Saving Private Ryan.” Then you get a call from Netflix wanting to know why you didn’t choose “The Human Centipede” or “2-Headed Shark Attack” whose descriptions you also read.

You are looking for a good book on amazon.com. You read descriptions and reviews of half a dozen before selecting one. Someone from Amazon then calls to find out why you didn’t choose the ones you read about but didn't buy.

You would consider those calls an invasion of privacy, wouldn’t you? Of course you would. And while Netflix and Amazon, as far as I know, aren’t doing anything like that, angieslist.com is.

Angie's List is a heavily promoted website that, until recently, sold memberships (now free thanks to heavy competition) enabling users to read about, contact, hire and leave reviews for businesses and contractors that provide services to homeowners -- roofers, carpenters, plumbers and the like. It claims to have more than three million members. I joined a year or so ago on a friend’s recommendation and have since hired three or four providers including a plumber, electrician and dryer vent cleaner. I left positive reviews for all of them.

Several months ago I visited angieslist.com looking for a company to fabricate and install a bathroom mirror. I read member reviews of several glass companies, called two to discuss my requirements and hired one, which did a great job. I left a positive review for that company, too, and thought nothing more about it until yesterday when I received a call from someone at Angie’s List who said he wanted to know about the glass companies whose profiles I read about but didn’t hire.

Could I tell him why I didn’t I hire them? He rattled off the names of several companies he said I had viewed. I only remembered one of the names but I’m pretty sure I read those reviews because, after all, this guy said I did and he had access to my viewing history.

I told him his call was a massive invasion of my privacy. He apologized for the intrusion. I then sent Angie's List an email telling them I didn’t appreciate getting calls about contractors I had read about but hadn’t even hired. How could I remember who they were and why I didn’t hire them? How could I have possibly been able to say anything good or bad if I didn’t interact with them? How would Angie's List have used that information and of what value would it be? I said I was a blogger and was planning to write about this despicable practice and asked for an explanation, stating clearly that I didn’t want a canned reply.

I heard back within a few hours -- a canned reply, so obviously I’m not the only member who has complained. Here are two excerpts:

"I apologize for any concerns raised by the phone calls. Our primary reason for tracking searches is to get a view of total member usage across our service categories. This helps us determine which categories are more or less heavily trafficked than others, which can in turn help us to improve service to our members… 

"Most of our members appreciate our interest and pro-active approach. However, we certainly understand your concern. I have updated your preferences and removed you from our follow-up emails/calls." 

The first paragraph is bullshit. Angie's List can track searches and determine the categories that are viewed most often without making phone calls to its members. As for the second paragraph, I doubt seriously that most members appreciate receiving phone calls about their online viewing history.

I often receive emails or pop-up ads from e-commerce companies reminding me that goods and services I’ve shopped for but didn't buy are still available or have gone down in price. Annoying to be sure, but it’s only an ad or email, and I don’t have to read it. A phone call from a human who informs me he knows what I'm doing or viewing online is creepy beyond words.

Look, we all know that companies and the government are tracking every move we make on the Internet. I am willing to accept that, it’s part of the convenience of having access to huge amounts of information at my fingertips.  

If I googled “how to build and detonate a dirty bomb” I shouldn’t be surprised to receive a call from Homeland Security or, more likely, to look up and see helicopters circling my house. That type of online surveillance, a technical violation of my privacy, benefits the common good and I, for one, am glad it’s in use. Nor would I feel particularly violated if I had gotten a call from Angie's List about a company it knew I hired through them but had failed to review. 

But to call me about ones I only read about?

Forget Big Brother. Big Sister is watching.

Her name is Angie and she’s off my list for good.