Out of a reflex of distrust, I refuse to participate in any kind of loyalty program of the outlet of the large retail store around the corner.

I tell myself that by refusing to join the loyalty program (which basically comes down to scanning an anonymous loyalty card every time I make a purchase), I prevent them from adding my correlations (what products I buy, in what combos, at what time) to their data.

But since I normally pay by card, I guess they can (and do) already do that with my bank account information?

If I would pay with cash, they can still see those correlations per purchase, but they can’t track my purchases over time?

  • xmunk
    36·
    4 months ago

    Yes they can and, unfortunately, even if you start paying by cash you’ll still be tracked to a certain extent. It is extremely difficult to avoid any kind of purchase tracking because everyone from the private company that manages the lot you park in before going inside, to the retailer, to your bank, to the smart screens in the store, to your fucking smart phone (whether by GPS or wifi network identification) is working together to identify and track you.

    It’s really fucking hard to go incognito theae days.

      • xmunk
        4·
        4 months ago

        For the phone component - immensely… when I vaguely said that “your phone tracks you” most of what I’m talking about is Google/Facebook/Reddit/TikTok/Mobile Ad Networks doing it… I don’t believe carriers tend to engage in that bullshit very often (though AT&T has been caught a few times) due to laws around being a communications carrier… it’s mostly the social media folks.