My wife and I are starting to get into a routine for our weekly date.  We go Grocery Shopping (without the kids).  Sure it's not the most glamorous date but we get to spend some time together and away from the kids. We went this evening as a matter of fact.  Once we were finished putting everything away I started to read the "paper" online and ran across this article. I kind of see it from both sides.  On one hand, it's great that a Grocer can provide these types of things to their customers and it certainly brings the individuals back instead of them chasing deals at other stores.  Everyone likes to save a little money and in this economy where people may be choosing to pay a bill or get food for their family, coupons are extremely helpful.  The Marketing person in me thinks that it's fantastic, and to not worry about what it can appear to be. However, it kind of scares me what type of data can be extracted from this sort of thing.  To be honest, it's exactly why I've avoided these Preferred Customer cards at grocery stores. Obviously from the article they are able to determine what items you're mostly likely to purchase or purchase the most and send you coupons based on those predictors.  This isn't where my major concerns lie. Based on the data, it wouldn't be too difficult to predict when you'll be in the stores, and how much you're likely to spend when you're there.  Think about it, in a poor economy when are people most likely to do their shopping?  Probably on or shortly after their payday. If they are tracking your purchases you can bet that they are tracking the entire purchase not just individual items.  So they can predict when you'll be in the store (near your payday), what you're going to buy (based on previously purchases) and how you pay for your purchases. I'm sure that they are also able to predict (again based on your purchases) what type of person you are, your habits, the make up of your family (spouse/significant other, kids, pets).  This is not information that I really want collected on me without my consent. Sure all of this is pretty far fetched (I hope), but there is the potential for compromises to your safety and personal life, all from simply being a "Preferred Customer" at your local grocery store and by just providing them with your name, phone number and address. I really hope that the data is well protected, because if some freak were to get a hold of it who knows what strange things could happen.