This boggles my mind. What do you think a loyalty card is even for?!?
> “The way this data is being used is very clearly widening the gap between upper, middle, and low-income households, and unless regulators take action, it will only get worse,” says David Friedman
This seems like a pretty wild assertion - the article itself presents the data collected as little more than a wild stab. The idea that different people get marketed different coupons is as old as the coupon itself.
> For most of their food, the family opts for the lower-priced WinCo Foods, which is farther away.
Shout out to WinCo foods. They are employee-owned, they don't do any coupons or loyalty cards, and all their prices are cheap cheap.
I think the only way to even attempt to not be data mined is to pay cash and not use loyalty. And wear flip flops, to throw off those peaky gait tracking cameras.
This is exactly what I do. I wish it were possible to also avoid video surveillance, but it's increasingly not. You can reduce it (and the risk of being accused of theft) by avoiding the use of self-checkout, though.
Or the Ryan George experience https://youtu.be/kAveQ7fc2oo?si=QrRnLY-McPyQI7IR
Also remember how Kroger spent a decade waddling their thumbs and not accepting Apple Pay?
Kroger sucks. Boycott Kroger.
I agree, but that's getting really hard to do. Kroger seems to own almost everybody.
duxup•8h ago
The limitation seems to be on discounts offered. This seems logical to me.
Even where I work we offer some of our better customers some discounts on some things, because we know they make up for it in other ways.
bell-cot•8h ago
Yep. Kroger selling my purchasing history far and wide does feel creepy & obnoxious. Vs. Pete Penny-Pincher expecting the same discount deals as the big-time spenders get? That just sounds greedy & entitled.
legitster•8h ago