After all, it's only groceries ... right?(Vin Suprynowicz:the future of customer tracking)

Las Vegas Review Journal ^ | 6/30/02 | Vin Suprynowicz

[maxwell]

Nope, uh-huh, I'm stickin' to 7-11...

[maxwell]

Is this for real, dude? No way is this real. This is scary. If I did this, I'd end up getting charged 50 bucks for a carton of smokes or a twelvepack of Miller.

[Uncle Sausage]

Luckily, their computers are powered by Microsoft, so they'll never be able to achieve liftoff.

[Nick Danger]

Most of the stores are collecting terabytes of this data, but it's just sitting there because there's no budget to do anything with it

The kind of stuff described in this article is all very possible, and it's the subject of endless proposals from vendors, but the grocery chains are wary of spending any more money in this area because the previous promises haven't come true.

These 'loyalty card programs' are an advantage for the first mover, but once everybody has it, it's no longer an advantage and it just costs money.

[PeterPrinciple]

Didn't coke try to change the price of coke in vending machines depending on the time of day etc......... didn't this get a bad reaction........ does anyone have any more details on this?

[visagoth]

My 'SpecialValuesExtrayNiftySuperCustomer' is registered in the name of Bill Gates, 666 Beelzebub Place, Nonyadamnbiz, Virgin Islands....

I love giving them my 'demon'graphic information.

[Billy_bob_bob]

It's what I refer to as "the paradox of the room with a trillion keys". Picture yourself in a concrete vault. There is only one door to get out, and its locked, and you cannot break it down. You're screwed. In a similar fashion, picture yourself in a concrete vault. It's the size of the Superdome inside of there, and you are hip-deep in keys. Only one of them opens the door. I submit that you are just as screwed as you were in the first example.

Too much data can be as useless as no data at all. Worse yet, you'll drive youself mad in the second example, trying out all of the keys you can get your hands on!

[poet]

Camera here, cameras there,
cameras everywhere,
on the corners, in the mall,
as our freedoms fall,
attached to traffic lights,
losing our privacy rights
Give it up for security,
just don't include me

[NatureGirl]

"Well, comrade, we see that you're making $60K per year. Price of peanut butter for you - $10!"

[Lokibob]

Yesterday I got Albertsons card (kicking and screaming)and got 44% off my receipt. Just looked at previous receipts from Albertsons (pre discount card) and have averaged 18%. Gonna keep track and see what happens. Fortunately computers work both ways. LOL

[Greybird]

In the L.A. area, I shop at more than one Ralphs, and more than one Vons, with discount cards at both. I alternate between them out of convenience and proximity. What a scheme like this assumes is that one constantly uses the same store, or at least the same chain. Those who vary where they shop make this useless.

And if any such chain starts individual monitoring, their discount will be torched SO fast ...

It doesn't surprise me that this has been linked, in "Great" Britain, to following the dictates of the socialist health system. In Birmingham, England, they're registering knife purchases now.

[CDHart]

We have the special cards for one of our grocery stores here in a rural area. I don't understand what all the fuss is about, though. You don't show ID to get the card. You could give them a fake name and address, and still get the card. Their prices are high and the card just brings them down to a realistic level. They have no more clue who I am than the man in the moon.

Carolyn

[1stMarylandRegiment]

Freedom isn't always free. Simply refuse the card, pay cash and pay the extra money. Eventually some smart capitalist will start a grocery chain that markets "Every Day Low Prices for Everybody!"

Hmmmm. I wonder if I could . . .

[Brett66]

Reminds me of the movie Minority Report. They could track where you were at by instant optical scans and they would switch on personalized commercials beamed into your eyes as you walked through malls and other places. Constant spamming, not only unbelievably obnoxious, but also used by the government to control, track and oppress the citizenry.

[1stMarylandRegiment]

Freedom isn't free.

Just pay cash and punt the card.

Eventually some enterprising capitalist will offer "Every Day Low Prices . . . for Everybody!!"

Hmmmmm.

[c-five]

Ask for the application on the way in.

Peel off the bar card tags.

Fill in with a fictitious name or don't fill it in at all. Just throw it out.

Don't give your address. Don't give your phone number. Don't give your e-mail. Don't give your freep name.

When you check out, pay cash. No check, no credit card, no bar coded coupon mailed specifically to your address.

If you want to be really hostile, ask for a fresh application each time you enter the store and throw it away, cards and all, when you leave.

[c-five]

The first time you paid by check or credit card, they had your ID. Sorry. See reply #17.

[College Repub]

I refuse to get cards....the local ACME here asks for my drivers license # (WHAT BUSINESS OF THEM IS IT??) in order for me to get the discount. And it isnt really a discount. They just mark everything else up. How I get by is I use a copy of a friends card. Shes being tracked, not me!

[College Repub]

They ask for freep names now? Geez...