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Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

lifeinnorway.net

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Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fail to see how you can get this kind of data from anonymized supermarket receipts? Entirely different data collection methods: sure. But the entire point of this is that was too difficult ("time-consuming and error-prone", according to the SSB).

Issue national ID cards that contain a private key. For each citizen, the government would encrypt a mapping of their national ID number -> anonymized ID ("anonID") using their corresponding public key. The anonID could only be used to look up anonymized demographic data, updated when new IDs (and thus new encryption keys) get issued, once every few years. When checking out at the supermarket, your national ID number…

I get a feeling that this is a roundabout way of simply anonymizing the ID in the data when it is collected, as have been done a lot in studies. The problems with this is that our behavior is unique enough that is it often possible to find out who you are (or what demographic you are in for advertising purposes) from your actions, no unique identifier needed.

One example of this is when our national newspaper (NRK) did an investigation[1] on "anonymized" GPS data, and could easily find the identities of the persons they belonged to.

[1]: https://www.nrk.no/norge/xl/avslort-av-mobilen-1.14911685

Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#392
post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As said in the article, we already share our data with the supermarket, google, etc and whatever other systems that binds all of them together. In that situation, I'm happy that government has access to the same data because it gives it a way to balance the private sector power. Now what is needed is the ability to opt out.

This angle is increasingly popular, but I think totally naive and even dangerous: When the shit hits the fan there is no “balance” of power between government and the private sector. History is not full of examples of corporations putting people in camps and working them to death, despite the government’s attempts to prevent it. The government has all the power (when it really matters).

VW used slave labor, as did the American plantations. Even today, forced labor is rife in some industries, like shrimp fishery in Asia.

Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You, uh, sorta can't. There is no unowned land left. You can squat but that is living as an outlaw. Also >You don't get to use any of society's infrastructure if you don't opt in, though. You don't represent the rest of us, so why are you pretending to the authority to make stipulations like this? I'd imagine if there were any outlands left to retreat to, you would at least have some bartering going on there at the f…

I'm not pretending to be an authority on anything, or representing anyone but myself. You can't just pick and choose which parts of society you want to comply with. If you do, you get incarcerated. As a direct consequence, interfacing with society's infrastructure is a soft opt-in, which will result in your incarceration if you don't live within the bounds of that society. So it's not a stipulation, nor do I require…

> You can't just pick and choose which parts of society you want to comply with.

You can't pick any parts. Choice has nothing to do with it. You serve the government, it does not serve you. You are a slave.

But you can pretend that you picked what society is asking you to do, if you like - that you picked how much tax you paid, that your government borrowed so many trillions, the way they spend that money, which wars they fight, etc, etc. If you don't believe me, try and change something.

I personally think that's an example of Stockholm syndrome, but each to their own.

Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#394
post #29

People seem to suddenly forget that these transactions are already tracked and individually linked to you. Should we allow anyone to collect that data except democratically elected governments? What's the logic behind this?

You're absolutely right. Therefore, we should prohibit this tracking by anyone. We definitely shouldn't expand it!

Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#395
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're already being tracked by the grocery stores, wouldn't it be better to be tracked by someone who at least tries to have your best interests at heart vs. the grocery industry who just wants to sell you more?

Realistically, what is the worst possible consequence of a supermarket being able to track you? At worst, I suppose you be could be charged more for purchasing a certain item at that particular chain. I highly doubt this has ever happened, since it's bad for business. The usual consequence for getting tracked at the supermarket is getting a discount on certain groceries via a loyalty program, with zero downsides for…

The worst outcome is those private entities treat my data as their property, to do with as they wish, without any accountability, transparency, or recourse.

In other words, the staus quo.

Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't pay taxes (yet?) to Amazon.

They pay profit instead. What's it matter though?

The ability to collect taxes was shorthand for "the right to use force to compel you to do things as they see fit".

Amazon can not compel you to buy from them, and Amazon can not throw you in jail if they don't like you as a customer.

Mining personal data and using it against the interests of the individual is bad in both cases, but it is far more dangerous when done by the State.

Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#397
post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As said in the article, we already share our data with the supermarket, google, etc and whatever other systems that binds all of them together. In that situation, I'm happy that government has access to the same data because it gives it a way to balance the private sector power. Now what is needed is the ability to opt out.

This angle is increasingly popular, but I think totally naive and even dangerous: When the shit hits the fan there is no “balance” of power between government and the private sector. History is not full of examples of corporations putting people in camps and working them to death, despite the government’s attempts to prevent it. The government has all the power (when it really matters).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_town

Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#398

Future conversation with government bureaucrat: “I see that you are made of approximately 23% cheese. That is above the state limits for health reimbursement, so I am sorry we cannot support you at the moment until your diet fits within government guidelines.”

Nonsense, healthcare already covers smokers, alcoholics, obese and all kinds of other things.

Depends on who _is_ the government.

Once you have the data exactly on how unhealthy someone’s choices are, you can lean their behavior towards better behavior(according to those that want government to help people behave better).

Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#399
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea behind the separation is that the government has the ability to make you do something with the threat of force. Not to say we shouldn't put protections from private corporations in place, but they can't legally imprison you.

You're just describing laws. Is the worry here that they could more effectively enforce laws because of this tracking? Is that a bad thing?

Yes! This is not a novel idea - it's how the US got its 4th amendment, prohibiting unreasonable search. Government power should not be unlimited, because it risks slipping into tyranny.

Don't turn your country into a prison on the hope that the warden will remain benevolent. There's no shortage of past and present examples of that suddenly changing.

Re: Norway to track all supermarket purchases?

#400

One should be aware that Norway already has very comprehensive registers and databases about the population. Currently, it has only been a benefit, I think, as it enables detailed quality control of say health care services and high-quality register studies. For example, all health/hospital records of deceased Norwegians are digitalized ten years after death and added to a national register. No way to refuse. In my o…

Invasive to whom?

I'm certainly not going to be feeling outraged by medical records disclosure when I'm dead. Do with me what you will when I'm gone--I care more about my experience when I'm alive.

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