Online Profiling

Online profiling consists of collecting information about consumers by tracking or observing their actions as they browse the Internet. This can be done simply by tracking what links the consumer clicks on, what websites they visit most often, or even the amount of time they spend on each website. In doing this companies are able to collect valuable information about consumers and in turn use this information to target specific audiences by placing ads on specific websites. Online profiling is a great tool for businesses to get to know their consumers. However, many people are concerned with this profiling interfering with their personal privacy as well as question the business' ethics in doing so.
Many privacy advocates claim these companies are creating profiles and using them to figure out political, religious, or even sexual orientations and then selling this information unethically. However, the companies that are collecting this information claim they are making consumer's lives easier. They claim these profiles are saving their customers time so they do not having to look around at multiples sites, they also claim they save their customers time by saving previous information so they do no have to retype it into frequently visited sites.
For me personally I am a little bit weary of online profiling. I know for a fact that certain sites I visit partake in it. Multiple sites that I visit regularly store my information and allow me to stay signed in, for example Facebook and even my Yahoo mail account. I have also noticed banners on sites that mention specifically my hometown and I have wondered how they knew this information. I think a lot of people have the false notion that because you are on the Internet no one is watching and this in turn gives them a false sense of security.

Do you think this profiling is helpful or hurtful to consumers? Do companies take advantage of unknowing consumers or is it the consumers responsibility to know what they are making known to the public?