Not to mention that the NY Times (the publisher of this article) probably collects a lot of information about their on-line readers. They know what articles you've read, what ads you've clicked on, what comments you've left on their site, where you live (based on your IP address and/or your billing address), approximately what your income is (based on your ZIP code), and that you found this article through Hacker News. And if you're a paid subscriber, they know your real name.