Amazon started off as an online bookseller.  But it's apparent that "bookselling" was a great front for its ever-expanding apparent data mining operation.  When Amazon first started, book selling was a big money losing operation.  The "real money" was in using user's data for all kinds of apparent nefarious commercial activities unknown the Amazon's client base.

I managed to stumble upon Amazon's latest unethical commercial data mining operations.

In order to become an 'Amazon Seller', this company now demands that users not only provide front and back copies of drivers licenses and passports but also provide actual clear high resolution images of one's bank account and/or credit card statements.