That’s the message on the cover of Reason Magazine’s forthcoming, mass customized June issue. Nick Gillespie, the magazine’s editor, says that Reason’s 55,000 readers (mistakenly listed as 40K in the New York Times) will receive a special issue that marries database technology and satellite photography to provide a personalized cover that actually circles the subscriber’s home.

It’s a provocative idea – and brilliant marketing. Indeed, I hope it boosts circulation. (Full disclosure: I have contributed to the magazine in the past including a cover story on the promising future of home schooling.) The package was made possible by Rodger Cosgrove, president of Entremedia, a direct marketing firm, and a member of Reason's board. He developed the program that enabled the subscriber list to be integrated with satellite photos and worked with printer manufacturer, Xeikon, which customized the pub for all subscribers.

I am also pleased to discover that the cover story writer, Declan McCullagh, will offer an alternative to today’s privacy scare stories -- exploring the “unsung benefits” associated with proliferating database applications. We are, of course, surrendering elements of our privacy in exchange for the extraordinary conveniences that customer intelligence delivers. "Our story is man bites dog," says Gillespie in the Times. "Everybody, including our magazine, has been harping on the erosion of privacy and the fears of a database nation. It is a totally legit fear. But they make our lives unbelievably easier as well, in terms of commercial transactions, credit, you name it.”

Even-handedness is the only reasonable approach as I see it. After all, the key issue here is not really about the expanding knowledge of marketers and lenders. It’s about the delicate balance of liberty and security.

While we should certainly be concerned about infringements on our civil liberties and even develop new bulwarks of freedom, I am personally more concerned about the possibility of some entrepreneurial and unflagged terrorists manufacturing hell in the safety of an unmonitored garage. Perhaps the "transparent” future can't come soon enough.