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Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!asylum!langz
From: langz@asylum.SF.CA.US (Lang Zerner)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk,alt.privacy
Subject: Safeway Stores to Accept Charge Cards
Summary: could make personal buying habits available to third parties
Message-ID: <13810@asylum.SF.CA.US>
Date: 5 Apr 91 00:08:57 GMT
Organization: The Asylum, Belmont, CA
Lines: 68

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, p. C1, April 4, 1991, the
national Safeway supermarket chain will soon begin accepting Visa and
MasterCard for purchases of groceries and other items.  The banks that
serve Safeway will get a special rate on purchases (1 percent) to
encourage them to pass the discount on to Safeway.  Customers will also
have the option to use debit cards such as bank ATM cards (Lucky
supermarkets in California have offered this convenience for some time).

The article goes on for about 12 column-inches, starting on page 1 of
the Business section and continuing on page 4.  Most of the article
explains why the new network will be good for Safeway (it is the
business section :-).  The following sentence appears on the
continuation page: "Suzanne McGrath, a supermarket-industry analyst at
Piper Jaffrey in Portland [Oregon], suggested that banks may be
subsidizing the cost of the new equipment in order to gain information
on customer purchases that they could then sell to consumer goods
companies."

That's it.  There is no further discussion of the privacy infringement
entailed by making personal information about an individual's spending
habits available to third parties.

One way to let Safeway and its customers attain almost all of the
advantages of the new system without endangering customer privacy is for
Safeway to bill only for the total purchase amount, and not maintain
records of the purchase details any longer than necessary to conduct the
business of selling groceries.  If this is impossible for technical
reasons, I would at least request their written assurance that they will
not release the detail information to third parties.

I also plan to write the Chronicle to voice my opinion that they were
remiss in providing no discussion of the privacy issues.  I will request
that the Chronicle report on the privacy issues raised by the Safeway
billing system and other computerized personal information databases
(such as the new CA driving licenses).

To write the Chronicle:

Letters to the Editor
San Francisco Chronicle
901 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA  94103

Refer the Editor to "Safeway Stores to Accept Charge Cards," by Staff
Writer Jamie Beckett, on page C1 of the April 4, 1991 morning edition.

To write Safeway:

Deborah Lambert
Public Relations Manager
Safeway, Incorporated
47400 Kato Road
Fremont, CA  94538

If you are a Safeway customer, be sure to mention that fact in your
letter.  You may also be able to reach Ms. Lambert by telephone at
498-2011, but remember: you can't send a copy of a verbal response to
the press if it is newsworthy.

Please copy and post this message wherever it is appropriate.  Customer
goodwill is worth real money to Safeway; ket them know they'll be losing
some if they make records of your personal buying habits available to
third parties.

Be seeing you...
-- 
langz@asylum.sf.ca.us   "Karma means `getting caught.'  The secret to
not creating karma is getting even without getting caught." --Rodent Kapoor