8 ms·
Google has long bought credit card transactions and so probably have dozens of others. The root cause is that they are allowed to be sold
by hatenberg 7y ago
Google has long bought credit card transactions and so probably have dozens of others. The root cause is that they are allowed to be sold
- chippy 7y agoare credit cards different from debit cards in this regard? Do some credit cards not sell your transactions?
- LeifCarrotson 7y agoNo, if it's data they can collect it's data they can sell. Can't sell cash transactions yet!
- Shish2k 7y agoUnless you use a loyalty card at the same time ;)
- organsnyder 7y agoUnless you are carrying your cell phone at the time—not sure anyone is doing this yet, but I have heard of at least one chain that tracks customers' cell phone locations via triangulation.
- gpvos 7y agoWhich chain?
- sp332 7y agoAs of 2013, at least Macy's. https://lifehacker.com/how-retail-stores-track-you-using-your-smartphone-and-827512308 https://lifehacker.com/how-retail-stores-track-you-using-you...
- godshatter 7y agoAnother good reason to keep wifi off unless you really need it.
- organsnyder 7y agoNot going to name them since I don't have verified firsthand knowledge. It's a large regional chain based in the midwestern US.
- artificial 7y agoThe accuracy by Bluetooth is horrendous.
- reaperducer 7y agoHow accurate does it need to be? If you shop in a market stall, or a bodega, then you could be tied to a neighboring store. But if you're in a regular-sized (American) store, it's certainly good enough.
- organsnyder 7y agoWhat about wifi? My understanding is this chain uses their in-store access point mesh for this.
- alasdair_ 7y agoIt used to be common to track the mac address of customers that pinged the in-store wifi. Not sure how much this happens now that some phones randomize mac addresses.
- robjan 7y agoIt's the card network (MasterCard, Visa, AE) that sells your data. They each have their own op out: * https://marketingreportoptout.visa.com/OPTOUT/request.do https://marketingreportoptout.visa.com/OPTOUT/request.do * https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/about-mastercard/what-we-do/.. https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/about-mastercard/what-we-do/....
- wh1t3n01s3 7y agoAre these datas for sale in Europe as well?
- kuschku 7y agoWith VISA and MasterCard yes, but e.g. the German girocard network on its own doesn’t sell anything, and there it depends on your bank (and most banks don’t sell that data either). So if you have the choice between using a girocard or a credit/debit card to buy a product, the credit/debit card is significantly more likely to sell all your data.
- dd36 7y agoIt’s crazy that they do this yet still charge nearly 3%.
- dmayle 7y agoThey don't charge 3%, they charge about a tenth of a percent (0.11%). What you think of as fees is actually a basket of charges going to different parties. almost 2% goes to your (the purchaser) credit card company to cover the risk of you not paying them, about a percent goes to the store's bank to cover the case when they have to give the money back (either because it was a fraudulent online transaction, or the store cheated the customer and the customer went to their card issuer, etc.) and that tiny little bit that's left goes to Visa/MasterCard. Credit transaction fees actually make lots of sense and are grounded in the actual cost of the financial product. As a merchant, you can choose to accept only debit cards to avoid the cost
- zerotolerance 7y agoI'd argue that the root cause is that they have any value whatsoever.