Column: Is a supermarket discount coupon worth giving away your privacy? Via Davidlaz
Most large companies doing business in California are required by the state’s new privacy law to disclose what they know about customers and how that information is used.Then there’s Ralphs, the supermarket chain owned by Kroger.
The form says this data gathering is necessary to improve the Ralphs customer experience and the company’s operations.“This is one of the most intrusive data-gathering programs I’ve ever seen from a supermarket,” said Joel Reidenberg, who teaches information-technology law at Fordham University. “It’s an extraordinary amount of surveillance.
Other information? This can include files from “consumer research firms” — read: professional data brokers — and “public databases,” such as property records and bankruptcy filings.“This level of intrusiveness seems like a very unfair bargain in return for, say, 20 cents off a can of corn,” Fordham’s Reidenberg said.
Where Ralphs has misstepped is in not making that distinction and linking all its snooping solely to the company’s rewards program — that is, they’re asserting a right to give Ralphs Rewards cardholders the same in-depth scrutiny they might give a credit card or job applicant. “We use a proprietary suite of tools and technology to uncover relevant customer patterns, and are committed to helping clients develop, nurture and embrace customer-driven relationships,” the 84.51Votava said 84.51 — the name is derived from the longitude of the Cincinnati headquarters — uses non-identifying aggregate data to help food companies reach out to shoppers.
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