When we think about data collection and the potential for some all-powerful entity to amass a comprehensive dossier of our behaviors, we tend to think of shadowy government agencies. You probably never would’ve suspected that McDonald’s has one on you. Because they do if you’re part of its loyalty program, which, according to a report from WIRED, collects an enormous amount of data that’s used to predict what you’ll eat next.
WIRED reporter Reece Rogers found this out after requesting his personal data from McDonald’s as a California resident. He got back a 515-page report detailing his years of purchases, his loyalty-points history, his activity, any promotional offers associated with this account, and even the codes he scanned for the McDonald’s Monopoly game.
Every interaction he had with the brand over the years was compiled into a report longer than the average novel. And it was all being fed into an algorithm that could predict his McDonald’s-related behavior.
A McDonald’s Customer Requested His Data and Got Back a 515-Page Report
For instance, the company was able to predict that Rogers would visit McDonald’s 2.16 times of the next six weeks, spending an average of $13.49 per order. It even provided him with a ranking of McDonald’s menu items that were most relevant to him. The top three included some McDonald’s standards, like a large Diet Coke and a spicy snack wrap.
I got a real kick out of the item in the number three slot, wherein McDonald’s predicted that Rogers would be gaga over the Grinch McShaker Fry Large, a limited-time offering that let people pour a little packet of Grinch-themed dill pickle-flavored powder over fries.
His “Customer Attrition Likelihood,” a.k.a. the odds that he’ll stop going to McDonald’s, was zero. They even know when they’ve ensnared you for life.
McDonald’s says this info helps provide personalized deals and messages, while privacy experts say all this extensive data collection is the norm for loyalty programs. Every transaction you make as a loyalty rewards program member is grist for the algorithmic mill.
Rogers asked McDonald’s to delete his information. Probably for the best. Being in the thrall of a fast food menu is bad enough. Having gone so often, so regularly, that they know, for absolute fact, that you’ll never free yourself from its trap is just a bit unsettling.
The post McDonald’s Built a 515-Page Dossier on One Customer to Predict What He’d Order Next appeared first on VICE.
