I am not sure about the rest of my listeners, but we still have a little buying left to do for the Christmas season. We have presents for a couple of people to get as well as some stuff for the apartment. Buying things always intrigues me. It is not so much the act of buying or looking for what I am going to buy or even the money spent on said items, it is the information passed while it is happening. All the little things that can be observed and categorized. Working at Wal-mart for so many years did this to me, but I can't say that I mind. It is honestly one of the better things I garnered from the place.
A big for instance: Tomorrow we are going to BooksaMillion to grab a couple of books...we like to promote literacy (though you would never know by reading the page) more than fashion, movies, and music. So lets take a view of some of the info you could gather from us if you had unimpeeded access to what others around do and the time to watch...as well as a desire to profile.
The profiler can start before we even reach the doors. First, from what direction did we turn into the parking lot, how are we driving, what is the passenger doing, where/how do we park, what are driving, how do we approach the store once out of the car, what is our attire, and are we carrying anything like a purse or possibly returns.
These show familiarity with the area of town, potentially if we are native to town, our views of others, our respect for the laws, how much attention we are paying the surroundings, how long we want to be shopping, if we are just there for the one store, if we looking to make a quick exit, how we like to spend out money, if we are nervous or pumped about entering the store, if we know what we want, if we are left or right handed, if we are a couple or have a more professional behavior, if we look like we have extra room on our persons for stuff going out, and hundreds of other things. Narrowing down, are we going to steal or cause a rukus, are we honest shoppers, and if so, how much money does it look like we are willing to spend.
Everything up to how you open he door can set things into motion. If you look dishonest, you might get people watching you or at least checking you over when you leave. If you look pliable or like you are going to spend money, you might get extra help in finding stuff or suggestions for gifts. If you look like you are there for a single item, you will probably just get the obligatory 'we are in the same aisle so I am acknowledging you' routine.
It does not stop once you are inside. Again, your attention to others, exits, signs, cameras, restrooms, and layout can trigger responces. If you are with another person does it look like you are a couple or just friends, maybe coworkers? What are your shopping habits? Do you stick together or immedietly split up and go in totally opposite directions? Do you ask for help, and if so where is the person you are with while you are asking? Do you avoid groups of other people? Do you hit the bargain tables before the normal aisles? Do you pay attention to endcaps and feature items? How much time do you spend debating between books or do you just grab a book and walk with it? Where in the store are you looking at books and do the books you are looking at fit your perceivable interest?
So far these are really just about the people working getting the right attention to you, be it nab a crook or earn and extra buck. A good salesman knows all of this whether they realize it or not. You pick up on people and start to learn who your marks are and who is trying to mark you. But the things that are more fun to think about, especially when thinking about profiling, all happen at the checkout counter. Slip on your paranoia hat for this one and ask yourself how much about does the cashier learn about you in the few minutes it takes to do the transaction. Cashiers at Wal-Mart are told to ask a general question about (Did you find everything ok? How are you doing today? blah blah) and to get your name from any check/card/ID you hand them. No, this is not meant to be evil in nature, but to add a since of familiarity. If the cashier uses your name when she says goodbye it gives a more personal touch and makes you feel welcome. Small towns this works like a charm...not so much in larger towns.
Now just imagine if this person is supposed to get any info from you they can. Do you give anything away in responce to their greeting? (During my 5 years in retail hell I noticed that people who traved tended to give away more info about their lives for some reason...almost like they needed to shack off the road.) Do the items you are buying say anything? (When we were dating me and the wife went to the local grocery and picked up a container of whipped cream...and nothing else. Nothing sexual was involved but the looks were worth it.) Are you buying anything that requires ID (alcohol, cigars, movies)? (There goes your address, license number, age, etc.) Are you using a check or credit card? (Sure name is obvious. Checks also add in an address (phone number?) as well as the name, address, and routing number of your bank...and for some reason some people put their social security numbers on there. If they ask to see your card there goes your number and CV2 number, and maybe the bank again if it is a check card. Both will give a good look at your signature...not enough to get by if people are paying attention, but enough to fake it. Are you married and have your spouse on the check/card, or better yet, is it a business account with no name?) Is anyone with you? Family? (Anyone you are having a casual conversaion with can reveal tons of info..pay attention to the next conversation you have with a loved one when within earshot of someone you don't know.) Are they buying anything? (It sounds mundane, but if I buy camp fuel and you buy lithium batteries red flags will go up. But this could also turn shopping for snacks around the house into shopping for snacks for a trip out of town and if you used a check they have your address.) Does the person try to get you to buy an extended warrenty and do you have to fill out the info right there? (More address passoffs, but now with an added 'I have money enough to throw away so I probably have more expensive items' tagged on.) Does the person offer to sign you up for a discount or in store credit card? Are they offering free subscriptions or coupons or whatever?
A little more personal, huh? That is just assuming one local person or group is after you. How about a company? A lot of major retailers have a POS (point of sale) ordering system. The idea is that once an item is purchased, it is automatically put on order to help keep items in stock. This is one of the reasons places like Wal-Mart or Target always seem to have items on the shelves. It is brilliant.
But lets slip our paranoia cap back on. What if these same companies also added in your name and address into the database and associated you with the items you purchased. Now, they can pull up oranges in the database and see that Sam from Chicago likes them, but for some reason he only buys them in Indianapolis. Well, maybe Sam from Chicago only buys items in Indy, lets just pull up all of Sams purchases from us and see. No, he buys locally as well, maybe they just don't sell oranges at his store? Still feels a little mundane, and it is easy to see why companies would like to track accross stores like this. Maybe if they sold oranges in Chicago people other than Sam would buy them there.
Now lets go deeper... What if they sold oranges in Chicago. Now why the hell does Sam only buy them in Indy? Maybe Sam is visiting someone in Indy, maybe he is a trucker and grabs them as he passes through, maybe maybe maybe. He is buying oranges, who cares? What is to stop a person who has access to this information from looking into other things? Does he have a wife and kids in Chicago? A database this sophisticated might include that info. Lets drop the oranges, what if Sam was buying condoms and KY? What would that imply? Maybe he is having relations with someone in Indy? Does his wife know? How tempting would it be for someone who has access to this info to find out and maybe make a couple of dollars out of it? How do we know that the company itself does not have a hidden agenda? Maybe part of its Mission Statement is to help weed out the impurities of the moral center of the nation. What does this mean for Sam from Chicago? Ok, that is fairly improbably.
Lets go somewhere else with this. Sam's daughter is sick, so his wife picks up some Sudafed at the store on her way home from work and uses her checking card to the family account to pay for it. Meanwhile, Sam is driving back from his job and decides he needs to pick up some supplies for the trip his family is going on over the weekend. They are going to bike up into the mountains and do some camping. He grabs some WD40 to clean up and lube the bikes as well as some camping fuel for the lanterns. Before he leaves, he decides he should grab a new camera because it is the last family camping trip before his eldest son goes off to college and he wants to remember it, so he grabs a digital camera and some extra batteries. As he is checking out, the registers beeps a few times, and the cashier gives some vague excuse for paging a manager. A few minutes later two police officers show up and take poor Sam to a back room and start asking him all kinds of questions about his purchases. Within a hour or so, an officer shows up at Sam's house to ask his wife the same questions. Sam and his wife were just taking care of the family and planning for a trip, but the computer saw 4 ingredients to make meth and threw up a red flag. It takes no time at all to realize it was a false positive and Sam and his wife are allowed to return to their life. Only everyone at the department store remembers this guy and thinks he is shady. The store keeps a closer eye on him, and the first time he buys something innocent that could be used otherwise the cops are called again. Sooner or later something sticks and Sam becomes a victim of a tracking system.
So yeah, just a few things to think about the next time you check out somewhere...I always do. And tomorrow when I go to buy my gifts, hand them my member card, and my credit card I will hope the books don't flag me for anything other than being an avid reader.
