Joab Jackson on supermarket loyalty cards: shopper beware?

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Of course nobody's forcing shoppers to sign up for such cards; if you
don't like stores that offer them, take your business
elsewhere. --Declan]

---

Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 08:52:01 -0400
Subject: Card Games
From: Rob Carlson <rob () vees net>
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>

Card Games

Should Buyers Beware of How Supermarkets Use "Loyalty Cards" to
Collect Personal Data?

By Joab Jackson
Baltimore City Paper

Everyone gets worn down and submits, eventually.  Even the most
resistant. Even Rob Carlson, a privacy-minded person who hated the
idea of having a supermarket savings card.

[...]

"My job is to design and maintain databases, and I'm constantly amazed
at the things that can be discovered when you have enough data and you
know how to ask the right questions," Carlson says. "I think a lot of
people who use a supermarket club card either don't realize what data
is being collected about them, or don't care."

[...]

http://www.citypaper.com/2003-10-01/feature.html

--
Rob Carlson  rob () vees net  http://vees.net/
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