To view amazon in a totally different light - RE-Panarama

[contentedsoul]

Saw the panorama program about amazon last night and its been on my mind all day.

I noted that the BBC News app on my phone also ran a story about this too - so been reading that in break times.

It actually sounds terrifying. As someone so eloquently put it
"Amazon is first and foremost a Data Mining company,,that also happens to sell items too !!

Some senior bigwig stated that ""we" that's us, fall into three areas Lazy, Greedy and Horny. It transpires we are not customers par se but more commodities to them.

I'm actually in two minds to remove the amazon app from my phone...I just don't trust it.

The BBC reporter asked for a record of his data and was told his computer wasn't sufficient enough to store it !!

I just never realised that amazon knew so much about us.

Haven’t watched it but data mining is pretty common. You’d need to delete more than amazon.

Um...Amazon (and every other store you visit online) can track everything you do on their site. Amazon may be more sophisticated than some, and bigger than most, but there are many multiples of other companies out there doing exactly this: facebook, eBay, Twitter, snapchat, whatsapp, google, Instagram etc etc etc.

It's good business sense for companies to store customer data, where permitted.

Yes, it means they can see patterns that we might not see ourselves, but it's not like this is news to anyone, surely?

My running app always pops up and asks me whether I feel like going for a jog at the exact same time I ran a week ago, Netflix keeps emailing me reminding me to finish watching some god awful tv show (I've unsubscribed as they're getting annoying now) and M&S follow me round the Internet waving knickers I once thought about buying in my face. If you gave lots of interactions with Amazon, it will do the same.

*have

It’s not just amazon. You’d have to delete all your apps, get rid of your loyalty cards, never shop online, never use cash back sites. Even mumsnet - the cookies they use are gathering data about what you do. Anytime you go online you are sharing information about you interests, habits, where you go, what you eat...

You do a google search for dog collars and the next time on Facebook there are ads for dog collars. You even mention dog collars out loud and you might gets ads for them...your phone is always listening ('hey siri' etc). And what about Alexa? All those 'do you accept cookies' notices? Your info is out there. It's not just Amazon.

But IT has been their main biz for years - Amazon Web Services (AWS) is HUGE.

When dh went to Netherlands, I got ads for hotels in the cities he was visiting, in my Facebook, I only have him as a normal friend, so...

Its everywhere but you have to input your details to get anywhere with a website. As for accepting cookies everytime I go on a new web page is just making me want cookies which is annoying.
I've set up a separate email address just for purchases as I'm sick of buying something from one shop one time then getting stalked by them via email.

I guess AWS is no that well known to the public at large as Amazon the shopping site.
Everybody collect data on their customers to help target the advertising. Nothing surprising there. I find the very concept of Alexa weird and not that useful but plenty of people like the concept without thinking how much of a dual service it can be.
Anyway, Amazon are bloody good at what they do and, as a consumer, there isn’t much I can find fault with. Apart from the moral aspects of some employment practices and recycling methods. But I still use them all the time.

Ah cop on, if you go online, your data is stored.

You can get rid of all your tech and go off grid if you dont want it.

This is news to you?

This is the price we pay for a capitalist society.

'When dh went to Netherlands, I got ads for hotels in the cities he was visiting, in my Facebook, I only have him as a normal friend, so... '

Do you have profiles on the same laptop?

Out of the three, I am lazy.

Watch The Great Hack on Netflix too.

Marketing companies have been doing this for decades, they have just got better at it with the computer age.

I have eight ads blocked on this page as I type.

This is how Tesco clubcard was sold to Tesco as a concept. We can literally show you what your customers are buying week in week out, and you can target them with money off coupons etc.

But essentially, we can track the eating and shopping habits, when people shop, when we need more staff on the tills etc.

At work I laugh when I hear people chat about the demise of your town centres.....and then nip down stairs to collect their Amazon delivery.

This is the price we pay for a capitalist society

No, this is the price we pay for a globalist society

@Fairenuff

It is so much the case as news to me - but I was taken aback by the depth of data mining amazon does. The Alexa, Echo not to mention Ring door bell/cam watch....all that data is saved and will never be deleted. Ponder on that for a second...
Yes, visiting sites and they "see" what interests you is fair game I suppose. But I think amazon is on a whole different level.
I actually find it rather creepy to tell the truth. Just silently watching and recording everything day and night.

Im getting an ad for Amazon listings analytics.

But normally I LIKE targeted ads. If I’m the product, then I’d at least like to get shown stuff I’m interested in.

not

At work I laugh when I hear people chat about the demise of your town centres.....and then nip down stairs to collect their Amazon delivery.

Yes this is actually the main reason I avoid shopping online as much as possible, not so much because of data. I genuinely do worry for things like town centres because I think they're a valuable community asset.