Brad Templeton, of 10-Myths-About-Copyright fame, makes some good points about those supermarket “savings” cards (I put “savings” in quotes because the cards only allow users to access the sale-prices, and nothing more).
While I suspect many of your readers will be aware of the concept, some may not so let me remind them, when they go to parties or meet other people who are concerned about privacy, to simply trade their grocery affinity cards.
My first card was in the name of Mickey Mouse of Anaheim, and you might find that to be protection enough — the Safeway staff would always say “thank you Mr. Mouse.” When I traded it, I told the receipient to always trade with somebody who lives east of him. I presume my card has made it to the east coast by now.
At parties, have everybody put their cards in a bowl and draw another one at the end.
The cards do save a lot of money, so it’s a serious cost to avoid them, but with these techniques you can protect your privacy and not spend the cash. […]
Hmm, perhaps Leia could be conviced to try this at the next DFWBlogs Cocktail Event ;).