this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2025
249 points (99.2% liked)

Technology

62853 readers
4120 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

top 23 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 42 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Gross, I will continue to never shop at Kroger's lol

[–] [email protected] 63 points 4 days ago (2 children)

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
[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 days ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

My grandmother told stories of how they would trade farm eggs for coffee from Kroger. Kroger is a bit different these days.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 days ago

don't forget about data obtained by your insurance, who'll jack up your premiums, and then jack them up again if you surpass the donuts purchased per month threshold

[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 days ago (1 children)

This week in "No shit, thats what its designed to do" Kroger invacive price cameras help Kroger raise prices across the board by seeing what consumers are willing to accept before they go somewhere else.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

So like, if a hundred of us all filed through a store, picked up this one item, then set it back down, it would potentially be cheaper next week?

Is this the new protest instead of not buying from a particular company? Next Kroger you visit, pick up and set down all the nestle products you can find.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago

it would potentially be cheaper next week?

No... That's not how these algos work haha

Let's be real and think like corporate Parasite 101

The system is there to extea extra profit, not be a fair system for pricing

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 days ago

Texas, 2032: Some poor teenage girl walks down the baby aisle with her mom and all the prices start changing.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 days ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

The way Kroger works is that they absolutely ream you with the price-gouging if you don't let them track your purchases through your "kroger plus" card. It doesn't matter if you pay with cash or not.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

We don’t have a Krogers but that behavior is enough to not use the stores that do this.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Genuinely asking, what difference would it make if I walk into the QFC, get immediately Face ID’d, grab a box of pop tarts that are arbitrarily priced higher because some AI told Kroger that my social status indicated I’d pay top dollar for frosted blueberry, if I pay cash or card at the checkout counter?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago

You deny money changer profit and data point at the very least. Actually a few of them... Since your data is shared with processor and cc issuer at the very least. Probably more since every transaction in this fucking country requires 4 parasites to get done 🤡

But sure using cash alone is limited value hence why privacy focused person would adjust their other habits to make it harder to do the tracking against her or him.

For example, uBlock origin on browser. Dont use reward cards. Stop uploading pictures of your face into clear internet.

Don't disclose your income to your credit card company. Don't permit sharing of your tax return data when your file taxes using nasty shot like turbo tax. Don't use social media tied to your real id. Don't use mega corp service as much as possible.

Use degoogled phone and Linux.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I've read some comments on other articles about this saying that by using cash and avoiding the loyalty card they won't have the data that shows how often you buy certain products and if you buy them at regular price or only during sales. I don't know if that's true, but it does seem somewhat logical to me that the AI is going to use your past purchases against you, they already use that same idea to send me paper coupons once a month based on stuff I usually buy.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Those people are just in denial. Look up clearview AI, The are paid by walmart and lowes and target,...... They don't care if you pay cash or with shmeckles or if you use a painted rock as a phone. They know you anyways. "smile, your on camera"

[–] _core 2 points 3 days ago

That's absolutely not true. They have your face which they can put a name on, they know which checkout you went to and everything you bought, if it's on sale or not, if it's within your usual purchase baseline, etc etc, all of which goes into their tracking system.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

And so at small stores ran by local owners who can’t afford surveillance equipment and aren’t obsessed with profit

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago

Gonna have to wear a disguise, just to buy groceries.

[–] ohellidk 6 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Doesn't Walmart already do this to some extent?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Yes why do you think they make you pay with your card or Walmart app if they can help it? So they can track your purchases