Geodog

Trade those cards

A gem of a suggestion by Brad Templeton on Declan McCullah's Politech mailing list:

While I suspect many of your readers will be aware of the concept, some may not so let me remind them, when they go to parties or meet other people who are concerned about privacy, to simply trade their grocery affinity cards.

My first card was in the name of Mickey Mouse of Anaheim, and you might find that to be protection enough -- the Safeway staff would always say "thank you Mr. Mouse."   When I traded it, I told the recipient to always trade with somebody who lives east of him.  I presume my card has made it to the east coast by now.

At parties, have everybody put their cards in a bowl and draw another one at the end.
The cards do save a lot of money, so it's a serious cost to avoid them, but with these techniques you can protect your privacy and not spend the cash.

Yes, you will lose out on any special offers they send to your home address, like the free turkey they send out each thanksgiving (usually not more than a $10 value.)  But it confuses the database no end, and creates serious doubt about the validity of the records.

I never got one of those affinity cards, precisely because of the privacy implications, but now that I know how to deal with those, I'll get one on my next trip. Brilliant.