Forget Milk and Eggs: Supermarkets Are Having a Fire Sale on Data About You
Stores are happy to sell all your data to advertisers for now, but what they really want is to use it themselves. Their wet dream is to get us to accept Personalized Dynamic Pricing (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.researchgate.net&#x2F;publication&#x2F;338776528_A_special_price_just_for_you_effects_of_personalized_dynamic_pricing_on_consumer_fairness_perceptions" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.researchgate.net&#x2F;publication&#x2F;338776528_A_special...</a>) which means that once the store knows who you are (either by your photo, or by detecting the phone in your pocket, or by your loyalty card) they will customize the prices at the register just for you in order to take as much money from you as they think they can get away with.<p>They can drive up the price on the items you always buy until you stop buying as much, or lower the price on certain high price items just enough to attract you to them before they start creeping prices back up. They can use data like what you&#x27;ve bought from them before as well as data like your income level, who the members of your household are, and what your shopping habits elsewhere are.<p>Store loyalty cards are seen as a great way to start collecting useful data and get consumers used to the idea that some people get (or even deserve to get) different prices than other people. Be cautious of any place that asks you to use an app or scan a QR code to see their menu or prices, and resist the idea that stores should be allowed to discriminate by charging certain people more than others for the same product.