La card che sapeva troppo. Programmi di fidelizzazione e privacy del consumatore

Loyalty cards, thanks to the electronic support they use, produce a massive amount of data that - at least potentially - allow Brands, and Distributors to identify masses of people like never before. In combination with the scanner, the card is a powerful tool for consumer knowledge. The fidelity programs enable micro marketing strategies to be implemented in relation to the businesses growing orientation to recognize, measure and exploit customer diversity to target actions in to different target segments with the aim of retention, extention and acquisition. Issuing of cards (often preceded by the completion of an application form and a questionnaire) and their use (which determines the registration of purchases of goods and services) involves processing personal data of customers and sometimes Their family members. For the proper use of personal information by the companies issuing fidelity cards, the Privacy Guard has set some guidelines for loyalty programs with a provision of 24 February 2005 ("Fidelity cards for consumer protection") . The Italian press has given great resonance to the guarantor's tightness on fidelity programs, talking about a Great Brother of fidelity cards. Nonetheless, there is a US Consumer Protection Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) opinion group, which is a spokesperson for discomfort regarding the indiscriminate use of customer data. But are we really in an Orwelian scenario, as it is represented by our media? Our thesis is that no, we are not. We are not for a few, simple reasons: 1. Poor applicability of Consumer Relationship Management and Micro Marketing due to high consumer costs. 2. Privacy protection reduces the revenue gained from micromarketing 3. Analyzes are always aggregated, involving large clusters, large numbers