Those Store Discount Club Cards

From privacy issues, what is the downside from using store discount club cards? Not a store credit card but simply a discount card in which you will get a lower price if you apply for the card.

 

Well, for one thing, they keep track of everything you buy!
When, where, how many, they say they don't sell your info to any
third parties, but I doubt that..

It's great tool for them to see what sells, etc. but don't kid youself that
they aren't gathering info.

 

But if you have a few of these cards under a temporarily assumed name to get the discount.......that's between you and your......shoot, just do it. "Thomas A. Jefferson" sounds good! I have NEVER had a store check my ID to get these cards. You can fill those out any way you see fit.

 

It depends on what kind of information is collected for use of the card, who has access to it and what it is being used for. What you should be asking yourself is: 'why would anyone give me a discount'? Usually there is something of value moving between the parties so it is just a case of identifying it. In this case it would seem to be information relating to your purchases? Now, to some that would seem to have a trivial value, but to businesses who wants to better target demographics with particular products it is very valuable. So from your perspective you have to decide whether that reduction in price is incentive enough to submit to whatever information sharing is taking part in this scheme.

 

Privacy and Consumer Profiling

 

I agree, it's crap how they sell the info. But many stores do give you good discounts with those things. If the information they are collecting is all going to a fake name, address, etc....why not?

 

Ya know, I used to be on the anti-discount card bandwagon, but after coming to a realization otherwise, its pointless. Might as well have it and use it, fake name or not, because even if you don't use them, you are most likely still being tracked just as effectively. How you might ask? How did you pay for your last grocery bill? Cash? Check? Charge? Unless you paid cash, most likely you just had an entry appended (or created) for that account number. Use two forms of payment on the same order? Guess what, both of those are now linked together so they know that if either is used, same person.

Its amazing what you don't realize until you have an inside eye.