Author Topic: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?  (Read 15748 times)

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Offline bob3160

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #15 on: July 11, 2010, 04:51:06 PM »
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there is nowhere to hide...

I stopped hiding the minute Alice found me.....  ;D ;D
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Hermite15

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #16 on: July 11, 2010, 05:56:51 PM »
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there is nowhere to hide...

I was gonna say too,yeah Polonus...may be time for a little break from the dark side of the web ;D

« Last Edit: July 12, 2010, 12:37:02 AM by Logos »

Dch48

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #17 on: July 11, 2010, 11:09:23 PM »
Hi Dch48,

That is always with questions asked, you do not have to give the shopkeeper that information, probably you won't get that free bonus shampoo then, and if you hand him or her a shopping card you give the person all that information encoded for free (and that can be abused, exploited, hacked, profiled as well), you get 25% off when you buy three products, he gets all your shopping data.
But don't think you are not transparent, if there is a football match being held and you sit there stadium officials will know for sure how many Jones are attending, and they don't even have to have their mobile phones switched on. You have to go back to the days of "cart and dog trade" not to spread an endless digital diarrhea, there is nowhere to hide...

polonus
Shopping card? I think you mean a credit card. What we call shopping cards here are totally different. You don't give any information at all when buying or using one. They're just prepaid cards only good at the store that issues them and are often given as gifts. They're as anonymous as cash, even when used on the net. I've never owned or even used a mobile phone so I'm safe there  ;D.

Offline bob3160

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #18 on: July 11, 2010, 11:19:16 PM »
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Shopping card?
Usually called a reward card. You use them to get rewards for shopping at a certain store.
The one I use at Smith's gets me a 15 cent discount per gallon on my gas purchases after spending $100.00
You do give them a certain amount of information when applying for that card.
Dch48.
What you're talking about is called a prepaid credit card.  :)
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Dch48

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #19 on: July 11, 2010, 11:37:40 PM »
Quote
Shopping card?
Usually called a reward card. You use them to get rewards for shopping at a certain store.
The one I use at Smith's gets me a 15 cent discount per gallon on my gas purchases after spending $100.00
You do give them a certain amount of information when applying for that card.
Dch48.
What you're talking about is called a prepaid credit card.  :)
No, they are called shopping cards at stores like Walmart and Best Buy and have nothing to do with rewards. They are displayed on racks and you buy them without giving any information other than how much money you want on them. There is no application procedure at all. They use a card identification number prerecorded on the magnetic strip and the amount of money available is also recorded there. No other information of any kind is used. The purchase and usage of them is totally anonymous and as I said, they are very often given as gifts.  When the money is used you can put more on but usually the cards get thrown away at that point.

A prepaid credit card is a different animal altogether. They are issued by the major credit card companies and are not anonymous.

Offline bob3160

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #20 on: July 11, 2010, 11:43:07 PM »
I'll leave you to your interpretation. I'm sure Polonus will give us his.  ;D
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Dch48

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #21 on: July 11, 2010, 11:48:25 PM »
I'll leave you to your interpretation. I'm sure Polonus will give us his.  ;D
I worked in Walmart for 5 years and sold and purchased many of their Shopping Cards so it is not a matter of interpretation. I'm just thinking that in Europe they may use the term shopping card for what we call a credit card.

Alan Baxter

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #22 on: July 12, 2010, 12:19:46 AM »
It sounded to me like pol is talking about the loyalty cards used by many grocery stores and other merchants.  The card itself doesn't have any money value associated with it like a credit card or prepaid card.  The merchant gives a discount on some of the purchases made.  The loyalty card is presented and scanned at the time of the purchase.  The information on the card connects the shopper with a database which keeps a record of all his/her purchases.

Edit: I see Bob already said pretty much the same thing.  It seems unambiguous if you read pol's post carefully.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2010, 12:26:45 AM by Alan Baxter »

Offline polonus

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #23 on: July 12, 2010, 12:35:05 AM »
Hi my good friends from the other side of the Atlantic,

What I meant was a kind of card you get when you come to a big shopping center for the first time (you have to fill in name, full address), here the best known is called a "bonus card", so if it is a big grocery store you have bonuses on certain products only if you can show that card when paying. Bonuses vary every week, sometimes you get tomatoes with 50% off, then you get detergents two for the price of one, it is just as you say to bind certain customers to a particular shop, so a "loyalty card" could also be a good term for it, but this is the European situation, I do not know how it is in the States, but I am aware you have set this trend from the start,

pol
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Dch48

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #24 on: July 12, 2010, 12:36:57 AM »
Yes there are those "loyalty cards" as well. Price Chopper has one. I just wasn't sure what Polonus meant but he just clarified it. Those cards are not anonymous here either. They have your name and address and I'm sure they use the information and purchase histories to tailor their advertised specials and things like that.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2010, 12:42:21 AM by Dch48 »

Alan Baxter

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #25 on: July 12, 2010, 12:41:39 AM »
I do not know how it is in the States, but I am aware you have set this trend from the start

Same here as you describe. pol.  They go by many different names, including "loyalty" and "rewards".  The trick is to give them phony information when you register for the card.  8)

Dch48

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #26 on: July 12, 2010, 12:44:27 AM »
I do not know how it is in the States, but I am aware you have set this trend from the start

Same here as you describe. pol.  They go by many different names, including "loyalty" and "rewards".  The trick is to give them phony information when you register for the card.  8)
I'm sure they're more interested in the purchase history of the card than they are in your personal information but that would be a good trick  ;D.

Offline bob3160

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #27 on: July 12, 2010, 12:56:28 AM »
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The trick is to give them phony information when you register for the card.
Why? For me honesty has always been the best policy.  :)
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Offline polonus

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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #28 on: July 12, 2010, 01:09:02 AM »
Hi bob3160,

In most cases I agree with you there, but what if you hand your card to those that has forgotten his or hers, so they could get their bonus as well, it then is your card and they are fraudulent...You can make out as many cards as you like..
Well there were certainly those that made up phony credentials making an online account, so they could not be traced that easy and it is rarely checked, so use your nick for a surname (whenever it is in the phonebook), a street name from thedays of the GDR, a non-existing country now, I know f.ravia (once resource engineer, and searchlore guru, well may his soul rest in peace) always taught his adepts to do so to thwart off the leechers, and certain extensions that fed google with bogus search queries do the same, as did a generator that flooded the servers of a notorious spammer - the spamoliator (one even begged for mercy to the makers), I would not propagate these methods and have no need for it, but I can imagine that others have another point of view here,

polonus
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Re: What to do about web ads tailored to your zip code?
« Reply #29 on: July 12, 2010, 01:12:42 AM »
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The trick is to give them phony information when you register for the card.
Why? For me honesty has always been the best policy.  :)

Suit yourself, Bob.  Do you mean to say you always give complete and accurate information when registering on any website, including your name, date of birth, mailing address, and anything else they may ask for?  :o

Personally, I don't consider it dishonest to give false information to companies that are collecting personal information about me that isn't pertinent to our relationship.