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.

  • @motor_spirit
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    637 days ago

    Unfortunately they own a bunch of shit so it’s not so easy to avoid for all areas

    The Kroger Co. Family of Stores includes:

    Baker’s
    City Market
    Dillons
    Food 4 Less
    Foods Co
    Fred Meyer
    Fry’s
    Gerbes
    Jay C Food Store
    King Soopers
    Kroger
    Mariano’s
    Metro Market
    Pay-Less Super Markets
    Pick’n Save
    QFC
    Ralphs
    Ruler
    Smith’s Food and Drug
    
    • @shalafi
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      46 days ago

      Yeah, but they’re not going to deploy expensive tech to low-end stores. Margins at places like that are so thin, I’d guess running this system would break the bank.