this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2025
250 points (99.2% liked)

Technology

62853 readers
6344 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
L3s@lemmy.world
enu@lemmy.world
technopagan@lemmy.world
L4s@lemmy.world
250
Kroger’s Surveillance Pricing Harms Consumers and Raises Prices, With or Without Facial Recognition. (epic.org)
submitted 4 days ago by Cat@ponder.cat to c/technology@lemmy.world
23 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Every time you step into a grocery store, you step into a machinery of data that tracks, analyzes, shares, and influences your shopping behavior. Based on shopping history and data shared from data brokers—including internet browsing history and online purchases—grocery stores may infer your age, gender, race, economic status, family makeup, health conditions, or other lifestyle characteristics. Grocery stores might categorize shoppers as “interested in fitness and not price sensitive” based on often buying organic foods and visiting gym websites or “expecting mother with a toddler” based on purchases of prenatal vitamins and searching online for toddler-sized clothing. Grocers build detailed profiles of consumers to nudge them towards shopping choices that increase their profits, whether through different prices or personalized discounts and offers—at the expense of the consumer. Even worse, grocery stores also sell data gleaned about you to other companies, further enriching their profits while undermining consumers’ privacy.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] misterdoctor@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Genuinely asking, what difference would it make if I walk into the QFC, get immediately Face ID’d, grab a box of pop tarts that are arbitrarily priced higher because some AI told Kroger that my social status indicated I’d pay top dollar for frosted blueberry, if I pay cash or card at the checkout counter?

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 7 points 4 days ago

You deny money changer profit and data point at the very least. Actually a few of them... Since your data is shared with processor and cc issuer at the very least. Probably more since every transaction in this fucking country requires 4 parasites to get done 🤡

But sure using cash alone is limited value hence why privacy focused person would adjust their other habits to make it harder to do the tracking against her or him.

For example, uBlock origin on browser. Dont use reward cards. Stop uploading pictures of your face into clear internet.

Don't disclose your income to your credit card company. Don't permit sharing of your tax return data when your file taxes using nasty shot like turbo tax. Don't use social media tied to your real id. Don't use mega corp service as much as possible.

Use degoogled phone and Linux.

[–] Brain@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I've read some comments on other articles about this saying that by using cash and avoiding the loyalty card they won't have the data that shows how often you buy certain products and if you buy them at regular price or only during sales. I don't know if that's true, but it does seem somewhat logical to me that the AI is going to use your past purchases against you, they already use that same idea to send me paper coupons once a month based on stuff I usually buy.

[–] redacted2@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Those people are just in denial. Look up clearview AI, The are paid by walmart and lowes and target,...... They don't care if you pay cash or with shmeckles or if you use a painted rock as a phone. They know you anyways. "smile, your on camera"

[–] _core@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

That's absolutely not true. They have your face which they can put a name on, they know which checkout you went to and everything you bought, if it's on sale or not, if it's within your usual purchase baseline, etc etc, all of which goes into their tracking system.