Slashdot had an article a few days ago on Budweiser’s internal sales tracking network. Some expressed concern about Anheuser-Busch’s tracking down to the 6-pack, but most posters wisely concluded that you shouldn’t have anything to worry about since there’s no reason to buy Budweiser in the first place ;).
In any case, the Slashdot discussion turned to customer tracking of other kinds, such as those supermarket cards. And, switcha pointed out Rob Cockerham’s Ultimate Shopper endeavor. In short, Rob took a digital photo of his Safeway card, cropped the image and then printed a bunch of replica barcodes onto labels with his inkjet. This way, you can use one of his stickers and become Rob. More importantly, your privacy remains intact since Safeway no longer tracks your identity.
I like the tongue-in-check character of the page, but I’m still not fond of these shopper cards. Sure, you can trade them with your friends or even apply for them with fake credentials, but you still have to carry around that silly card in your wallet (or even three or four, depending on the number of supermarkets in your area). So, these days, I’ve emptied my wallet of those cards and I just go to stores that offer sale prices without any strings attached.
At my local Albertson’s, they let me just give my phone number — I leave the little card at home.
Hmm, who wants to become Rob? According to my information from my Tom Thumb card (which is also Safeway) I’m earning airline points when I use my savings card. So, while Rob is being all tongue-in-cheek, it seems to me that it’s more like a clever little scheme on his part to fly to Hong Kong and back on my groceries. Or maybe I’m just paranoid. :)
Hrmmm, I don’t EVER give out my phone number. That is how you get signed up to receive unsolicited calls. If you give the grocery store your phone number you have just associated yourself as business relationship with them and as such they are not limited by the Do-Not-Call List.
At least, that is how they will pass it off when they realize they can do that.