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1957 points apokryptein | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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inahga ◴[] No.42910118[source]
There are quite a few interesting tracking flows out there.

My rent is paid through a company called Bilt.

I discovered that when I shop at Walgreens now, Bilt sends me an email containing the full receipt of what I bought like so:

    > Hey [inahga],
    >
    > You shopped at Walgreens on 12/1/24 and earned Bilt Points with your
    > Neighborhood Pharmacy benefit.
    >
    > Items eligible for rewards
    > TOSTITOS HINT OF LIME RSTC 11OZ
    > $3.50
    > 
    > +3 pts
    > TOSTITOS RSTC 12OZ
    > $3.50
    >
    > +3 pts
    > Other items*
    > EXCLUDED ITEMS
    > $0.07
    >
    > *May include rewards-ineligible items and/or prescriptions.
Ostensibly (hopefully) it would exclude sensitive items, plan B, condoms, etc...

I'm curious how this data flows from Walgreens to my rent company, but maybe I'd rather not know and just use cash/certified check from now on.

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inetknght ◴[] No.42910255[source]
> just use cash/certified check from now on

You might want to discover about sophistication and pervasive facial recognition technology used by major retailers. Paid by cash? It can still be tracked to you. For "fraud prevention", of course.

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gruez ◴[] No.42910384[source]
>Paid by cash? It can still be tracked to you. For "fraud prevention", of course.

They can already track you through your phone and/or credit cards. Why bother setting up a massive facial recognition system for people paying with cash when they only account for 10% (or whatever) of overall shoppers, and have less disposable income than average?

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1. Lio ◴[] No.42915958[source]
I don’t know about the US but in the UK they did it ostensibly to catch shoplifters.

We have a major problem with “professional” thieves stealing because the big chains don’t want to pay cashiers anymore.

You see a screen with your face on it in places like Waitrose self service checkouts now. It’s their way of saying “we know who you are”.

Tracking cash purchases is just a side bonus for them.