WAY OFF: Insidious business practices

[K Henderson]

Paul said,

>This has been going on for quite some time.  I recall when I was a GTA
>for the Professionalism in Computing class here I screened some sort of
>video called "They Know Where You Live" (or something similar), which
>was about Direct Marketing.  It's all about the quest for data.  More
>specifically, purchase histories.  Some supermarkets actually started
>with store credit cards, so they could tie register data with
>individuals.

Yeah, and I've always paid cash for everything (under a reasonable $
amount), including groceries.  [Not really because of privacy, but rather
just because I hate being surprised about huge cc bills showing up when I
only think about the one or two major purchases I made, and forget the 10
$20 purchases I made.  So I use cash for those, so I don't tend to
overspend.]  I assume that the possibility exists for collecting data on
anyone who has been regularly paying with a debit/credit card.  Maybe why
those have been more easily accepted at grocery stores in recent years as well?

>You can probably blame data mining for the increase in all this lately.
>Having done a data mining class, and looked at some of the algorithms
>and approaches used, it is just as useful to know that X bought these
>items together, rather than Keith Henderson of Ohio bought these items
>together.

It's Heath Mackendrick, actually. :)  At least that's what it says in the
phone book.  :)  (I get the jump on telemarkers, given there's no such
person.  And I don't have to pay the phone company the money to keep my name
off the lists they sell to those bastards.)

>That's why they're not fanatical about verifying your
>information.  The name and address only come in handy for them if they
>decide to start sending you "targeted promotions." :-)

Yes, I realize that.  But I don't really care about my *specific* privacy in
regards to grocery items I buy (what the hell do I really care if they know
what I've purchased?...Froot Loops, mostly) :)  It's the fact that they're
making it 'mandatory,' and doing it in a way that intends to be subversive.
So I don't want them succeeding in getting data from me, whether they know
it's me or not. So using an alias in this case wouldn't actually make me
feel better.  Now, exchanging the cards with somebody else every month,
which would pretty much turn their data into random numbers (people becoming
vegan suddenly, and then not), would please me greatly.  Of course, 50% of
the people with the cards would need to do it, so.....<sigh>

>Incidentally, haven't you realised that WWW sites have been doing this
>for ages (assuming you have cookies enabled)?  It is becoming more
>prevalent as folks jump on the "personalisation" bandwagon.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.  But I've been free to make that choice, and decided
that I'm not bothered by it so much.  I don't feel blackmailed by it.

>To answer your question about how widespread this is, I can say our
>Kroger introduced it at least a year ago.  I was fairly miffed because
>their "buy one get one free" type promotions now only apply when using
>the Kroger Plus card, and there are now many "Kroger Plus" savings which
>only apply when using the card.  But, as I filled out my application in
>the name of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs of Dallas, TX, I don't lose too much sleep
>over it.

Slacker.

>Food Lion introduced this here much before Kroger.  (Food Lion have the
>"MVP Card;" what an ego boost every day!;)  I still have my (now
>dog-eared) temporary card, and so don't even have a fictitious ID
>registered with them.  The cashiers occasionally do a double-take at it
>every now and then (it is not even plastic, like the real ["permanent?"]
>cards).  Mind you, Food Lion do sometimes run lottery promotions, such
>as free groceries for a year, and cash prizes, etc., so I have wondered
>if I've ever won any of these and had it go unclaimed. :-)
>
>=> And because of Kroger's new card, they have a special response, which is
>=> quite interesting.  You're paying for their market research!  :)
>
>Are you saying your Kroger Plus card offers no benefits?  I get good
>savings with the one I use.  (BTW, at our Kroger, coupons up to 50 cents
>are *always* doubled when using the Kroger Plus card, which is a big
>saver.)

I don't believe for one minute that the average price paid for the average
grocery item purchased with using the Plus card is any less than it was
before the thing was introduced.  The website I forwarded did a simple price
comparison (hardly enough items to be absolutely certain), and determined
that you actually paid a little more after the card came into effect.  So, I
believe that unless you specifically purchase groceries based on what the
*very best* deals are, that the cost savings are virtually zilch.  I mean,
for what possible reason could groceries end up being cheaper just because
they decided to say so?  What, they all took pay cuts or something?

They only way you *don't* benefit is if you don't get the card!  Which is
f*cking crap.

Grakkl (FAA)

P.S.  I'm surprised that Columbus was *late* in the game on this front.  (I
had seen these actually in California three years ago, but didn't understand
what the hell it was for...still don't).  'Cause Columbus is often a market
research town, supposedly represents 'middle America.'