General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'Big Brother' Supermarkets Know Your Every Move
How supermarkets get your data and what they do with itWe all know supermarkets use information about our shopping habits to target us with personalised vouchers and offers but how would you feel about sitting down to watch a movie and being confronted with adverts based on what was in your shopping trolley a few hours earlier?
Or what would you think about Tesco using its Clubcard database to check what you are eating, and possibly offering vouchers for salad and fruit if your basket is usually groaning with unhealthy items?
These are just two of the ways the supermarket giants are planning to make use of the data they gather on us.
For every loyalty point or coupon that Sainsburys, Tesco and the like dish out, they gobble up a huge amount of information about our shopping habits. We are all familiar with targeted offers linked to loyalty cards, but you might be surprised at the amount of data the big retailers collect on all of their shoppers and even potential customers and what they do with it.
If you have opted out of taking out a loyalty card because you dont want Big Brother in your shopping basket, then too bad, because the supermarkets also track debit and credit card payment data and till receipts so someone, somewhere, knows about that bottle of wine you bought at 12.28pm on Tuesday, and that you recently switched your brand of athletes foot cream.
MORE...
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/08/how-supermarkets-get-your-data-and-what-they-do-with-it/
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)I can pay cash, I don't have to use a card. And I don't buy wine.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)there is an ad up in my screen for that store.
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)graham4anything
(11,464 posts)anyone not taking advantage of the discounts who later complains about how much things cost, is silly
Purveyor
(29,876 posts)about every 2 months, they mail us coupons for free products and they are actually products we use.
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)Freddie
(9,279 posts)If "big brother spying" saves me $$ on stuff I would buy anyway, I'm fine with it.
jbond56
(403 posts)handmade34
(22,759 posts)a product of virgin wood and bleached with toxic chlorine compounds... not that you asked
Americans already consume vastly more paper than any other country about three times more per person than the average European, and 100 times more than the average person in China.
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/Global/usa/binaries/2009/2/tissue-guide-view-at-a-glance.pdf
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)leftstreet
(36,119 posts)I see a revolution of the peasants on the horizon!
Freddie
(9,279 posts)And gas points (yay Giant!) but no wine, I'm in PA.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Our children, or their children, will one day be forced to use only electronic transactions.
shawn703
(2,702 posts)Wait until they make people's grocery shopping habits available to other parties. I'm sure health insurance companies would love to know who fills up their shopping carts with junk food so they can be targeted for a rate increase. Or maybe a potential employer wants to know what size clothes you bought recently before calling you in for an interview, so they can eliminate the heavier people from consideration without them knowing it.
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)I am more concerned about Big Brother - the potential for abuse has much more dire consequences, IMO.
If corporations can use info to the extent you are talking about, how much more government?
gulliver
(13,205 posts)Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)And I get mailers for expectant mothers, and I have also been getting AARP mailers for the past 10 years.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Problem solved
The point is, when I use a club card or debit card, I'm giving my permission for companies to collect data on me. I know full well that they have a record of my purchases. Unlike the NSA spying thing, where we can't opt out, and we're not even supposed to be aware of it.