Woolworths in data row down under

WOOLIES IS IN TROUBLE Down Under over its new credit card.

The Everyday Money Credit Card will collect a mountain of data that can follow shoppers on their spending trails and be used to entice them to buy more products.

It combines a credit card with a loyalty program capable of capturing and then sending a shopper's purchasing details back to a central database.

The card will collect data on what groceries you buy, your clothing, homewares, petrol, alcohol and electronics. This will be turned over to the company's marketeers.

In Blighty, such cards have been around for a while, but in Australia people are a little less happy about the idea. There are mutterings in the press about how much personal information you want your supermarket to have.

Woolworths said cardholders could opt out from detailed data collection if they wanted, but there is not a lot of information circulating on how to do that. µ

L'Inq
AP