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Comment by cronix | Hacker News Reader

> But an even more direct example is skipping the discounts associated with club cards for privacy reasons.

Right, but most still pay with a credit/debit card when checking out which gives the cc/bank the same info. At least with a store club card they only know what you purchase in that store/chain, instead of every store.

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> Right, but most still pay with a credit/debit card when checking out which gives the cc/bank the same info.

Yes, which is why I think cash is crucial until/if we get a digital equivalent.

> At least with a store club card they only know what you purchase in that store/chain, instead of every store

I haven't done research to confirm, but I'm guessing club card data ends up in the hands of data brokers at some point. Of course this probably varies by chain.

There will never be a state sanctioned privacy enabling digital cash equivalent since the data surrounding transactions is far too valuable (both in a monetary sense and in a social control sense).

I'm sure the phrase "digital cash" will be used in the marketing lingo though

I agree. I like Monero, but it will never be state sanctioned. I don't much care for the state.

I bet if I asked the people I know (many who earn enough to not need the discounts) if they would rather spend 1% less on their groceries and let go of their grocery purchase data, or if they would spend 1% more and keep their purchase history private, almost everyone would choose to voluntarily give it up and spend 1% less.

Now imagine if that number is 5%+ -> i'm sure many many people would give it up!

I'm guessing this is why many grocery stores don't allow NFC payments, except for (in my area at least) Safeway, whose non-club pricing is so punitive that most people just knuckle under and get the card.

Though I just use 867-5309 anyway. Works in every area code, AFAICT.

"Forgot card" often works too!

That's good to know. Another trick I used to use was just to tell the cashier that I forgot my card, and she'd grab a spare and swipe it. Then they started doing phone numbers, so that probably doesn't work as well now.

$local_area_code-867-5309 is almost always registered. No reason to sign up for your own card.

Jenny, is that you?

How do NFC payments relate to it?

I was at a self-checkout recently that required a store rewards membership to checkout at. I tried 867-5309 but form validation required both a phone number and a last name.

I guess retailers are catching on.

Can you not just make a fake account? That David Smithee sure does buy a lot of stuff all over the UK :D .

I know it's not exactly a last name, but... did you try the "standard" name for that number? I can't imagine nobody else thought of signing up like that, so unless the store explicitly blacklisted certain numbers, I'd think it worth a shot.

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