The information state is growing on us all the time. George Orwells 1984 is edging into our lives a little bit more each day. Everyone who I have ever spoken to has been outraged at the use of Spyware in software, yet to me this scenario is no more than that, it is a breach of our privacy. You step out of your house - your on a CCTV camera, drive into the supermarket car park - more CCTV cameras. Step into the store (now you might as well be on prime time TV). When you've got all your goods its off the the checkout where everything you bought is logged.
Supermarkets say the cards improve efficiency and save consumers money.
No, loyalty cards enable the supermarkets to keep tabs on you, they enable them to give you 'offers' based on previous shopping habits, in other words it gives them another oportunity to take more cash out of your pocket. Loyalty cards are nothing more than marketing tools used for the issuers benefit to make more money. These cards in my view amounts to nothing more than Spyware. Keep em, I dont want one.
Wont be long before we all have chips implanted in our arms (I know for a fact this type of research is happening in the UK).