How Supermarket Purchases Violate Your Privacy and Increase the Cost of Insurance
Every Patient's Advocate Thursday, January 03, 2008
Every Patient's Advocate Thursday, January 03, 2008
It’s cold and wintery. Time to hunker down with plenty of comfort food and a toddy or two… and while we’re at the store, let’s pick up a bottle of aspirin, some stomach acid medicine, and maybe even plenty of dog food for the rottweiler…. A swipe of both your store’s loyalty card (gotta get those discounts!) and of course, your debit card to pay for your goods — and home you go to lay in for the weekend, read a good book, and max out on all that junk food and alcohol.
Come Monday, your purchases, aligned with your identity, will be sold to a health insurer, or life insurance company, perhaps an auto insurance group…. and they will have that information to review should you contact them to make an insurance purchase. This, according to the Harvard Review.
Who’s selling the information? Either the supermarket or other store where you used your card, or the company that administers the program for that card. It’s one of their income streams. They make money from you AND whoever they sell information to. For the 50 cents off on that gallon of milk or can of chicken soup, you give away your privacy. How will it affect you? Well — suppose you purchase wine from the supermarket, then drink it at home that night. The next day you drive to work and someone broadsides your car. Later, in court, the defense brings up that fact that YOU purchased alcohol the day before the accident, so perhaps it was your fault? Or maybe you want to purchase life insurance.
The insurance company pulls up your records, finds out you have an affinity for doughnuts (even though you really bought them to take to work every Friday, how do they know you weren’t the one who ate all of them?), you’ve got a problem with acid reflux, plus the fact that you have a large dog (because you buy so much dog food so often) AND they notice that you never buy condoms (will they make a leap to STDs too?) — bottom line — they’d be glad to sell you life insurance, but the price will be higher than it might have been if they weren’t concerned by those unhealthy purchases you make….
What can a patient do to prevent this kind of big-brother approach to insurance? Stop using that loyalty card –at supermarkets, or any other store that issues them. And use cash, too. Gives new meaning to “follow the money” doesn’t it?
