I hate the idea of facial recognition tech being used like this but I really don’t mind loyalty cards/using credit cards to track spending as long as the data is only used by the stores themselves (and not also sold wholesale to the highest bidders, which I bet it is).
I think it’s fair for them to gather analytics on spending habits and use it to make decisions on how to stock their store, run promotions, etc. Same for personalized coupons. Feels weird, but is pretty harmless, and I’m pretty sure they’re just trying to get you to try new things (like for me, beyond meat) so you start regularly purchasing it.
No it's not really fair. Until I start seeing Kroger going out of their way to support data provacy initiatives and consumer protections, correctly assume they have ill intent with your data.
What is the worst that could happen if Kroger learns that I use my rewards card to purchase a loaf of wonderbread and other assorted groceries every week?
You buy a pregnancy test and pre-natal vitamins. This information is sold and put together as part of a “profile”. Your employer buys these profiles, sees you’re pregnant and fires you because who wants to deal with maternity or paternity leave. You never told them you were pregnant, they can claim they didn’t know.
Home Depot lost over 50 million debit and credit cards. Linking your first and last name with your payment method / methods and submitting it to companies not known for their security may not be in your best (long-term) interest. Doubly so considering many company account forms have address as well - meaning anyone with access is very close to having everything required to open a bank account in your name.
You're not wrong though; arguments against loyalty cards are seemingly random chains of chance, and the information is being sold by Visa as well anyways. So I'm not surprised by the free market, laissez-faire ideals on display. I don't have my eyes on perfection, just on minimizing how many times I give out potentially damaging information. And if some other people start to push back as well? Well, the more the merrier.
Selling it off to a data aggrigator that sells the information to the FBI so you get investigated for buying too much hummus after the next terrorist attack.
I think it’s fair for them to gather analytics on spending habits and use it to make decisions on how to stock their store, run promotions, etc. Same for personalized coupons. Feels weird, but is pretty harmless, and I’m pretty sure they’re just trying to get you to try new things (like for me, beyond meat) so you start regularly purchasing it.