Addicted to burgers? How McDonald's tracks you without your knowledge
For most of us, a quick stop at McDonald's is a matter of convenience. However, behind the scenes lies a massive tracking mechanism. Fast food chains are no longer just selling food; they are monitoring your consumption habits to predict exactly when you will return.
For most of us, the decision to pop into McDonald's is a simple and quick matter of hunger and convenience. But behind the scenes of the burger and fries hides a sophisticated and massive tracking mechanism. It turns out that fast food companies are no longer satisfied with just selling food, but are conducting close monitoring of your consumption habits, with the goal of predicting exactly when you will arrive again and how much money you will spend on each visit.
The huge tracking file exposed
This revelation comes from journalist Reece Rogers from Wired magazine. Rogers, a California resident protected by local privacy laws, asked McDonald's to receive the information collected about him as part of his orders. The answer he received was a massive 515-page file. It contained a detailed record of past orders, loyalty points, and even codes he scanned in the chain's sweepstakes games.
All this vast information is not just kept in an archive. McDonald's feeds the data into special predictive algorithms it has developed. This system analyzes your behavior and calculates metrics such as the number of expected visits in the coming weeks and your total monetary value as a customer. As a digital rights expert put it, the real secret sauce of McDonald's is simply commercial tracking.
Is your information in danger?
The big problem starts when this sensitive information is not kept protected. Just last year, McDonald's virtual recruitment system experienced a massive leak, which exposed personal details of about 64 million job applicants. This trend is particularly worrying because companies that are not classic technology firms are collecting unprecedented amounts of information about us but are struggling to protect it from hackers.
Ultimately, the new reality requires us to be much more aware of the information we share, even in our most everyday apps. These companies will not stop collecting data about us of their own free will as long as it generates profits. The next time you order a meal, remember that you are paying not only with money, but also with your privacy.
"McDonald's takes privacy and data security seriously, and we take decisive steps to protect customer information," global McDonald's stated in response to the WIRED article via email: "Like many digital loyalty programs, we use information such as past purchases to provide a more personalized and engaging customer experience – such as providing the most relevant promotions, offers, and notifications. Our customers continue to have privacy options available as detailed in our privacy statement."
