Shamus Khan, a sociologist at Columbia University, is analyzing the orchestra's subscriber lists to create a database mapping New York's elites in the seats of the concert hall.

WSJ: Philharmonic Unveils Trove Online

Taking that proposal a step further, he suggests that Uncle Sam could adopt a system similar to California's "ReadyReturn" program, where taxpayers can log on to a database and see the government's estimate for their tax returns based on historical and wage information.

FORBES: In The Future, Tax Filing Will Be Easy

Should prosecutors be allowed to subpoena a company's DNA database of thousands of people if they suspect it contains a match to a crime suspect?

FORBES: Magazine Article