Most of the things you interact with online are tracking your location, your device type, and your digital footprint to predict exactly how desperate you are to buy something. If the algorithm thinks you have money, or simply lack options, it alters the price in real-time.
To prove how widespread “surveillance pricing” has become, I decided to see if I could outsmart it. This involved exploiting corporate registry loopholes to create a fake corporate entity, hiring an improv actor off Craigslist to establish a completely separate digital identity, and strapping a burner phone to a drone to make purchases from the airspace above the wealthiest gated community in Minnesota.
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I live in Minnesota and use GrapheneOS with IronFox and uBlock, NoScript, and Privacy Badger. My desktop is Debian with librewolf and the same extensions.
I decided to check Spam prices at various Targets on both my phone and desktop. I don’t typically shop at Target, though I do have an account with them but I haven’t logged in in years. I was also not logged in for the testing.
I tried at my local Target and a few around the cities and got the same prices regardless of being on mobile or desktop. Only difference was between stores with prices ranging between $4.69 and $5.59.
I did not physically go anywhere different during this test, nor did I use a VPN, so that may have been why I was getting the same prices on both devices. I also really don’t know how much Target actually knows about me other than my IP and that I block stuff.
Did you try checking while using data on your phone?
Using different network might give varying results.
I did but I didn’t think about it until later so I didn’t check as many stores. I tried it in a new incognito instance to avoid tracking cookies and etc, but I still got the same prices as with wifi. Although at that point they could have already identified me in some way, perhaps looking up only spam and blocking JS* makes me unique enough to identify.
* I did have to unblock the bare minimum needed to see the spam prices, so it’s possible that could have allowed them to track me better as well.
Same, I’m also in a bunch of deals and sales channels… Sometimes you can find great things. Most differences in pricing comes from franchise/corporate pricing and slight price variations… The price of milk, eggs and soda, etc will be slightly different in NC and CA because of cost of living, taxes, and competition.
Now would I be surprised if mega corporations started a system where they varied price based on what they think they can get out of each person? No I wouldn’t. Do I think they’re looking at all that big data while twirling their mustaches and rubbing their hands together? Yeah I do, greedy little pricks. I just don’t think we’re there yet.
I recently learned about fingerprinting.
Interesting. I passed 2 out of 3. I have a unique headers problem. Using vanadium on GOS. Is this the place to download ironfox from ? https://gitlab.com/ironfox-oss/IronFox/-/releases
Yeah that’s why I use what I use. I’ve checked that before and as long as I have JS disabled I’m at 1/1134 which is a pretty good score. Although sometimes you have to unblock sites to get them to work, so ¯\(ツ)/¯. Although at least webgl can be blocked separately.
It’s a mixed bag really. Disabling JavaScript thwarts a lot of tracking efforts. But at the same time it puts you into a very small niche of users that, combined with other data points (user agent, IP location) makes you pretty fingerprintable.
Coming from a fellow JS Disabler, mind you.
This is one of my biggest reasons for increasing my data privacy journey. Does anybody have any info/ opnions on whether creating a data vacuum through VPN usage and degoogling affects your digital footprint in terms of these surveillance pricing?
Anecdotal, but I’ve been using Fauxx for a month or two and have noticed that ads I see (those few that manage to get through my blockers) are more generic, don’t apply to my demographic, or are even in a language I don’t speak.
I do practice basic data privacy, but I think that data poisoning also has a positive impact in obscuring your digital footprint. There will always be data from when I was less privacy-minded, so I feel it’ll be more effective to both create a vacuum and fill that void with junk data.
I’d also like to know. Sellers can know when you’re using a popular VPN service or have DeGoogled, but I don’t know how they may use that information. Perhaps they’ll try to punish you into submission by jacking prices to the moon or refusing to serve their website altogether. Reddit and some other sites already block VPNs.
There will never be a silver bullet, because this will be an endless arms race between sellers and savvy consumers.
Does anybody have any info/ opnions on whether creating a data vacuum through VPN usage and degoogling affects your digital footprint in terms of these surveillance pricing?
Info no. Opinions yes!
It make sense to me, that if you lack a big digital footprint, they will give the highest price.
They always call these discounts, not extra fees. Put the tracker in your car, get cheaper car insurance! Use our club card, enjoy discounted groceries! They don’t call it an extra cost if you don’t. Even though it’s mathematically the same! I think there may even be a legal difference. There is certainly a psychological difference between “you get charged extra” which nobody wants, and “get a discount”. Yayyyy! Who doesn’t enjoy a discount???
Also, they want to make the attractive choice, the one that gives them the most data. So they will crank up the pain for ppl who opt out of the surveilence.
There is a glimmer of hope tho! Basically NOBODY likes this suveilence pricing. There are 24 US states that have pending bills to ban the practice. Maryland have passed theirs already. This is another case where writing to our reps makes a difference.
If you put in a local area code and Jenny’s number it works at every club location because someone always uses it. Ymmv
The truth is no one except those inside the companies determining pricing really knows. And it can change at anytime if they find some new price discrimination data point to exploit. In the video they say it basically comes down to a desperation score.
My guess/sense at this moment is that it’s slightly better as the type of person willing to learn and explore the privacy options and settings and have a little extra income to put towards them will be aware of shopping alternatives and therefore have a lower desperation score
Super question. 👍🏼
I don’t think this guy has hacked surveillance pricing in ways that are practicably replicable, but his video has piqued my curiosity.
Edit to add: There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of evidence-based, practical advice currently, except to shop in physical stores and to comparison shop. https://www.kqed.org/news/12088157/surveillance-pricing-is-making-life-more-expensive-heres-how-it-works-and-what-you-can-do
Completely un-replicable. There’s just no way my drone will reach Minnesota from Ireland.
I’ll get my coat…
Nah - all you have to do is join the Ukraine army, & you’ll have access to drones that can do what was once thought impossible.
Lol they seem to have the good tech alright.
That’s the most clickbaity title and thumbnail I’ve seen here in a while.
