Target knows when you are pregnant and a statistician gets credit for it in the New York Times

I do not believe that anyone is unaware that retail companies like Target collect and analyze data of their customers. I do think the amazing thing is the type of things that can be learned from analysis of this data and the accuracy of that insight. We are human and therefore want to believe that we are unique and unpredictable, but we are not. Our behaviors and situations can be fairly accurately predicted by comparing  sample data collected on us to other people.

Andrew Pole, a statistician at Target, did this on an interesting question and was able to predict if a customer was pregnant. His work landed him in a article in the New York Times and gave Target insight into their customers. That is not a bad days work.

New York Times Article