Ads and Cookies

I don't like people to be able to Facebook stalk me, so I set my profile to "private." It also really bothers me when corporations dig around on the internet or through my digital interactions to get them a better chance of receiving my business. I can't set "private" on that, other than to block cookies, but that disables some services and functions of internet browsing (as far as I know...).

I was shopping around for auto insurance quotes a few months ago. After inputting my address (required field, so I entered the information—should I give in to what the corporation requires me to give them?), I was shocked to see that they knew exactly what cars my father owns, down to the make, model, and year. All I had to do was click on the one I wanted to insure, and it would give me a quote. This (or something similar) happened with three websites I went to for an insurance quote. Two of those companies had never had our business before. So how did they obtain that information, and why would they want it? Maybe the insurance companies thought it would encourage potential customers to complete the online quote process if they didn't have to know the make and model of their car off the top of their heads. How did the companies get that information? I don't know, but I DON'T like it.

On the other hand, I do like that I can customize the ads, for example, on Facebook, by clicking the "X" to tell them that's not something I'm interested in. I have seen a great decline in ads that could be shocking or offensive to me. And while it bothers me that stores keep track of what I buy, or my browser keeps track of the sites I visit and gears the ads to reflect that, I think it's the fact that "they" (who is "they," anyway?) could use or sell that information to steal my identity is what really bothers me. That is, the fact that that information can be taken and stored and used for others' ends bothers me more than the particular way the browser currently uses the information (to gear ads to what I might be interested in).

What should the tradeoff be between privacy of information and ease of service? Am I willing to block the cookies on my browser even if that means I can't participate in some things online? What is your balance, and what are your breaking points? Should those be legislated for corporations when they want to use the information to improve business?