A new law will ban retailers from using shoppers’ personal data to hike grocery prices—but consumer advocates warn it contains loopholes that companies could exploit.
More states really need to get on board with this
I’m happy to see the first state do this, hopefully we can get the ball rolling on more.
Why only for groceries?
In the interest of keeping markets fair, it should be illegal across the board to change prices depending on who the customer is*. The price is the price, as it should be in a free and fair market.
*Though I think I’d still allow for rewards/loyalty card programs and coupons given to frequent customers and that sort of thing – with the distinction being it’s something that the customer explicitly opts in to. And a restriction that these programs can only ever lower prices, never raise them.
Step by step it will get there. This needs to be told to whoever got this to happen! And also to improve this
Step by step is the typical weak Democrat policy. They make tiny incremental changes that are so small that nobody will ever notice. The Democratic party needs to pass legislation that is not afraid of making changes because big changes are needed desperately.
I’m not talking tiny incremental steps I’m talking massive steps, and steps in general but I agree that is a weak component of current Democrat policy
Rewards programs are also a scam, in a way. The company isn’t giving shit away for free, not these big corporations who run those things. Either you’re paying for it and getting your own money back, or other customers are paying for it. All so they can get a monopoly on your wallet.
Well, you (and everyone else) are paying for it through retail markups and profit margins … but you’re going to be paying that anyway under capitalism.
What the store gets out of it is:
A) They hope their rewards program will motivate you to shop at their store, rather than going to any competitor’s, since you have a rewards card for their store and hopefully not the others. So the rewards program could increase their market share a bit, at the cost of a few discounts.
B) They’re using it to track you, of course. It provides more analytics for them to further optimize selling you shit, and they might also be selling the data to 3rd parties.
I await the inevitable Republican backed federal law that preempts state laws and makes it legal except under a very narrow case that somehow would be beneficial to consumers.
We must do it.
For the children.
/s
No sales tax on groceries purchased with tips
But they want to get rid of income tax and only tax consumption.
Companies just have way too much data about people.
It should be illegal to store/compile data that isn’t directly related to the good, services or products that you’re offering.
We’re getting to the point where everything about you, down to your real-time location, is available to anyone with enough money. That’s just not a power that we should allow to go unregulated.
This is the real crux of the issue. Data collection and algorithmic incentives are destroying society.
Canada needs this. Also either a full fucking ban on the remote-updated epaper price tags, or at the least very strict rules on when they can be updated (i.e. once a day before opening or after closing to the public)
And 24 hour stores can update their prices at midnight, but the lower of the two prices is still effective for the first 2 hours, in case anyone was actively shopping during the change.
Wtf is that shit even.
Imagine having to hire someone who gets lower prices to do your shopping.
Who wrote the law in the first place? That should tell you enough.
I live in MD. I dont know how this affects me since I dont mobile order anything, but the precedent sounds good to set
- big grocery state lobbying intensifies. . .
Im amazed that that would happen in the USA.
Is this just for online orders? Or how do they get my data if I’d just walk into the store without using their app and paying cash? Facial recognition? If so that’s very dystopian.
Potentially face recognition, but primarily through the signals your phone outputs, like WiFi and Bluetooth signals.
Facial recognition is just one way to begin or build upon a profile, but there are others. Cameras would also be looking for things like specific brands of clothing being worn. Raggedy, no-name work shirt? You get a pass. $80 Carhartt jacket? Maybe we add a buck fifty onto that tub of Folgers you rely on to get through the day. Wearing the latest $300 T-shirt drop from the Foofoo X MTBLZ brokemaxxing collab? Hell, I’d personally wanna charge you extra on principle.
Even without cameras and their “AI” trying to gauge your wealth, past purchases can just as easily be associated with the credit/debit cards used to pay for them in order to build a profile. If they know what you regularly buy they can start nickel and dime’ing those things to test the limits of what you’re willing to spend. I feel like I also heard about some stores using Bluetooth or NFC triangulation. So your phone, smart watch, fitness tracker, etc could essentially serve as their means to watch you movements. They know the moment you entered, how long you lingered in a specific spot in any given aisle, and what register you checked out at. Now there’s a profile for those devices. Paid with debit/credit again? Then those devices and the purchasing method are connected and the overall profile has grown.
I’m kind of curious how much longer places are going to accept cash. It’s anecdotal but, from grocers to department stores, there never seems to be more than a single staffed checkout lane around here anymore. Then, of course, the self checkouts don’t accept cash (or the few that do seem to always be out of service). Probably equal parts “we don’t want to pay more employees” and “we want your data” motivating that shift.
We’re decades into dystopian already.
If you don’t use a rewards or loyalty program, you’re already paying the highest price for the items.
