Google and Mastercard Cut a Secret Ad Deal to Track Retail Sales

DooKey

DooKey

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Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water we find out that Mastercard and Google are sneaky little...guys and have made a secret deal to use your retail sales data to better target you for ads on the internet. Yes, you read that correctly. Mastercard sold you out to Google for their 30 pieces of silver and neither company told you about this. I'm sure the use of your data is covered in Mastercard's Terms of Service, but this just goes to show we're tracked no matter what we do.

It works like this: a person searches for "red lipstick" on Google, clicks on an ad, surfs the web but doesn’t buy anything. Later, she walks into a store and buys red lipstick with her Mastercard. The advertiser who ran the ad is fed a report from Google, listing the sale along with other transactions in a column that reads "Offline Revenue" -- only if the web surfer is logged into a Google account online and made the purchase within 30 days of clicking the ad.
 
This isn't unique to Google or Mastercard. Expect this everywhere.

My best tip, use cash for purchases that may be held against you. I'm talking alcohol, cigarettes, any tobacco product, any fast food, buy it all with cash. Because the insurance industry is very, very interested in any such data and will use it against you.

And for heaven's sake don't do those DNA tests like 23andme, that is yet another way to screw yourself in the future because that data is getting sold as well. Medical predisposition to various things can really screw with your insurance rates.
 
PantherBlitz said:
Any day I'm expecting a letter saying that my car reported that I was speeding last month so expect a hefty rate increase.
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Yeah those plugin monitor things are bullshit. People actually believe they won't raise your rates if the report those things give out make you out to be a high risk driver.
 
Eh. a record of my purchases is already owned by the CC company, I'm pretty sure there are no privacy laws involving that data, so yeah... call me not shocked.
 
lollerwaffle said:
This isn't unique to Google or Mastercard. Expect this everywhere.

My best tip, use cash for purchases that may be held against you. I'm talking alcohol, cigarettes, any tobacco product, any fast food, buy it all with cash. Because the insurance industry is very, very interested in any such data and will use it against you.
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I don't actually disagree with you but then you'll go without your phone for all the purchases and any smoke break for years on end? And if you drive there can the store sell license plate scans to the insurance industry? And if you're scrolling your phone and see a deal for tobacco or fast food don't pause too long or they'll report your screen data and user gestures.
 
Everyone craps on Facebook but never stop to think why are all these other services "free".
 
katanaD said:
i was reading just the other day how a research group was using the DNA database from them for something.. cant remember what though.
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A while back, some DNA from on of those sites was used to track down a serial killer due to a relative of the killer submitting DNA to them.

A few TV shows have covered stuff akin to this as well. In Person of Interest, the one AI starts collecting DNA after it nearly caused a deadly hybrid flue breakout in order to sort people by specific genetic traits in order to recruit them for specific jobs.

Anyway, super creepy stuff.
 
katanaD said:
i was reading just the other day how a research group was using the DNA database from them for something.. cant remember what though.
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A recent news show ran a piece on this. Its main focus was on the medical results aspect of the tests, but it mentioned that the 23andMe type companies are happily selling the DNA data to researchers. If they find the cure to cancer from your DNA, you get nothing.

I make a lot of small purchases with cash. Very little trackable history of my life sapping but tasty fast food purchases. And I am one of the few folks that doesn't have the always on Personalized Tracking Device with them 24/7. My car isn't new enough to be cell connected.
 
Didn't know CC companies knew what I was buying. Just the location and the amount. Interesting.
 
Doesn't surprise me. Google builds a massive data profile on their users. If you want to get an idea of how frequently they're logging datapoints, install the Google Rewards app. They pay you to take Google surveys (decent way to introduce noise to your own profile).

I've noticed questions for location (wifi location training), purchasing decisions (visited a store, but did you buy anything?), ad relevance, and a few other metrics where you're clearly training the model. You can answer truthfully, but there's usually a more profitable answer. Asked about purchasing at a recent retail visit? Saying no purchase or cash gives you $.10, saying credit/debit gives you $.40.
 
alxlwson said:
Didn't know CC companies knew what I was buying. Just the location and the amount. Interesting.
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I think it depends on the checkout software and gateway used. One of my consulting jobs is for a PoS company and we can program our gateways to pass the purchases through (as additional data) or just pass the amount. Both get us the transaction token.

A few years ago a lot of banks started categorizing things automatically. The dummy way is broad categorization where if it's origin is from a grocery store chain, it's labeled as groceries. Gas station? Gas expense.

Think of it like a check. The "pay to the order" field gives a reasonable broad idea of what you bought if it's a retail name. The memo field can be as descriptive as you want. Google maybe broad-stroking it if they don't get the actual checkout information.
 
Glad im with VISA, though they probably do the same soon, but then again i only use my card for a little online shopping, out in the wild i always use cash.
 
It's not like big tech companies like Google would use their database of personal information to target people based on their political beliefs or anything. They certainly wouldn't use their bias to ally with the political elite to influence elections through search tuning, censorship, and deplatforming.

Oh, they do all of these things today. Expect it to get worse.
 
I've said it before, over and over again.

We need to have draconian regulation and end the use and collection of peoples personal data for any purpose, with or without consent.

There would need to be a few notable exceptions, but overall I think this is a must. It's amazing to me this hasn't resulted in more outrage. I'd vote for a candidate promising to do something about it.

I don't care if it kills Google/Facebook/etc. It probably won't though. They can still survive on context based ads that don't require data collection.
 
I got new tires put on my car the other day and they said they'd take $25.00 off if I'd give them my email address and date of birth. I politely said "No". It's everywhere.
 
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mastercard is telling google what you buy all the while you are telling facebook that stuff for free

what a world we live in.
 
Dident i read something lately with facetwitt now asking for your banking info too :eek: just on that alone they should be bleeding 1/4 million users every day.
I dont even get people paying for stuff with their phone, my phone arnt even regged in my own name, and "my" number are unlisted and i am on a do not contact in any way list, and 8 people have my number and 6 of those are family.

i think my next move will get off google at least on the computer, on the phone i will rather have then than the fruit company ( by the smallest of margins )
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I've said it before, over and over again.

We need to have draconian regulation and end the use and collection of peoples personal data for any purpose, with or without consent.

There would need to be a few notable exceptions, but overall I think this is a must. It's amazing to me this hasn't resulted in more outrage. I'd vote for a candidate promising to do something about it.

I don't care if it kills Google/Facebook/etc. It probably won't though. They can still survive on context based ads that don't require data collection.
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As long as GovCo gets their cut of the data, they are just fine with this.
 
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