At my local store, the checkout clerks keep pushing me to get a loyalty card. I tried to engage once and start a conversation about privacy, but ended up walking away from the conversation feeling a little like a conspiracy theorist. But thanks to working in tech, I know this data is being tracked, bought, and sold behind the cute "loyalty" branding. I wish I knew of a good way to convince ordinary people to value their privacy, or at least not mock others who care about privacy.
I normally wouldn't bother since I hate pushing my views on people (and I'm just there to buy food after all). But she asked me 3 times in a row and after 2 "no"s I decided I might as well try to explain why. It didn't make a difference and I left with a signup form I had no intention on filling out. Such are the downsides of being naturally polite. I guess I could just keep saying no and refuse to elaborate.
Well, my grocery store doesn't do that. Granted, whether or not you have a choice is highly dependent on where you live, but I'm just saying that its a better option if you can get it.
Well that’s how nothing ever changes. Personally, I will hassle the clerk until he seriously considers working somewhere else. That’s how we get change!
No, the way you get change is by pressuring the people who have some amount of power. A clerk quitting is not a real pain point. They'll hire another.
So, if you want to work for change, the first thing you need to do is to stop spending money in those stores. Every dollar spent at a business is a vote encouraging them to keep doing whatever they're doing.
The second thing to do is to let corporate know you're not shopping there and why.
Those things won't have a huge effect unless lots of people do them, but they'll have a much greater effect than harassing the poor front-line workers.
If the loyalty account is based on a phone number, try entering your local area code plus 867-5309. I've found this works at every major supermarket and gas station. Sometimes you get slight discounts because other people also enter this number and the account accrues points.
The other option is to sign up using a fake persona and a burner email. Typically rewards programs don't audit information or ever ask you to update it.
My local food store still give me sticky small olive labels which can be collected in a booklet, which earns an discount once it is full. I love that. And they ask me every time if I want my olives.
