In yet another case of the Iron Law of Data Collection, we have this example from Seattle. For the last four years, King County Animal Services has been sending notices to residents who have unlicensed pets that they must license those pets or face a $250 fine. But how did they know who had unlicensed pets?
It turns out they gathered data from supermarket loyalty cards—those cards that the cashiers are always asking if you have so they can offer you a discount—to see who was buying pet food and then cross referenced that with pet license data. Last year the county brought in $100,000 of new licenses this way.
Once again, we see data that was collected for an ostensibly benign reason being used for unintended purposes in a privacy violating way. There are no terrorists here, no pedophiles, no drugs, just dogs. While you can make a case that ensuring pets are properly vaccinated serves a public good, it’s the most mundane of public goods and one that certainly doesn’t rise to a level that requires the government to spy on what citizens are buying at the grocery store.
Sadly, most residents aren’t that concerned. They agree it’s pretty creepy but just shrug it away. One resident, in a charming bit of naivety said, “I just don’t get that concerned. Now if they were looking at my bank records and all sorts of more personal stuff than my dog, then maybe I might be.” Why on earth would you think that a government that spies on what you’re purchasing for pet enforcement reasons isn’t looking at your other data for more “serious” violations?
In any event, you shouldn’t be using those cards. Their whole purpose is to spy on your purchasing habits. That’s nominally for the benefit of the supermarket but as we see here, the data can be co-opted by the government for its own use. In my experience the cashiers usually have a card that they will swipe for you anyway so you won’t even lose out on any benefits from the program.