4 ms·
I find it especially creepy when I start checking out as a guest, decide not to proceed (often due to usurious “shipping and handling” charges), and then get an
by gnicholas 4y ago
I find it especially creepy when I start checking out as a guest, decide not to proceed (often due to usurious “shipping and handling” charges), and then get an email about my abandoned cart.
I get why companies do this, but IMO if I enter my email address and have not given permission for it to be used except for a given transaction, then it shouldn’t be used at all if the transaction isn’t ratified.
It’s one step removed from tracking character input in a text box and capturing an email address that was subsequently deleted prior to submitting a form.
- philote 4y agoIf you think that's bad, I worked at a company that didn't always need your email address. Their customer sites would add their third-party cookie, so if you enter your email on any of their customer sites they could send you a cart abandonment email (I don't think you even had to SUBMIT your email, as it would be sent to the server as soon as it looked like a valid email). Fortunately I quit working for them once they started going down that evil route.
- lmm 4y agoIf you're in the EU, GDPR provides you with a mechanism to go after companies that do this, although the details for how you do that will be country-specific.
- solarkraft 4y agoIt may even be illegal.