This morning, I opened a letter which had, of all things, a check inside. It was from my previous employer, CVS Pharmacy, but the check was unrelated to my work there: it was my compensation for a class action lawsuit, in which the Federal Trade Commission sued CVS for false advertising. I was getting repaid for my previous purchase of CVS Air Shield, those fizzy vitamin tablets that supposedly “improved your immune system.” Not that I bought them with ideas of such, I mostly just liked the taste and didn’t think vitamins were going to do any harm.
Anyways, as I was reveling in my eleven dollars and forty four cents, it occurred to me that they somehow tracked down my purchases, verified them, found my address and name, and sent a check. This must be because when I bought them, I used me “CVS Extracare card,” which I am quite familiar with because I spent several years behind a counter asking people if they had one, if they wanted one, and whether or not being asked again made them want to punch me. Well, as you may know, after saying “Hello! Do you have a CVS card?” all afternoon, I often wanted to punch myself. But I digress.
Was it possible that the record-keeping mechanism of these cards, which mostly serves, I am sure, to enable them to advertise and promote for effectively could have a real benefit for the consumer – assuming that they would get the same sales either way? I suppose in this case they did. After years of getting me to buy things on sale, sending mailers and person-specific emails, I finally got mine. It is somewhat amazing to think of it; without this system, there might have been some advertisements about “getting your share,” but I’ve got a feeling the receipts and so on are long past decomposed in a landfill somewhere. Yet, instead, an automated system doled out the cash, without me moving a finger – except to tear along the dotted line, and depositing.
Mostly what I think of is, oooh, CVS, that’s gotta hurt. I wonder how much they paid out? I guess I should have taken more vitamins after all.
PS: The irony that I stole the picture of the card off of their site, which promotes the darn things? Wonderful.
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Ive really been enjoying your posts.
I’ve really been ejoying your posts too.
Expanding on the subject of “what they know about us,” I am concerned that if I carry a GPS-type cell phone, which I believe is one of the two common types, the cell phone company has equipment that can pinpoint my (cell phone’s) location at all times. The omniscient eye knows where you are and where you have been. I don’t like it. Of course, when think about it, my cell phone spends most of its life in a bowl on my desk — turned off! GF
I’m glad, James
GF; that is a fear of many, I believe, and the focus of many an action-movie plot (including Charlie’s Angels and the most recent Batman movie).
It is a bit creepy to think about it, especially the “record” of where you have been. I’ve got a feeling there has been/will be a court case deciding whether that data is a violation of privacy.
Well just look at the debates over the FISA bill during the Bush Administration,amidst many other potentially invasive bills enacted under the aegis of National Security. These “controversies” have quietly left the public scene under a new liberal administration, however, the actual provisions have been strengthened under Obama. Turning off a cell phone does not deactivate the GPS within the phone.
Meaning, that the government can track you via a GPS phone if this is deemed necessary for National Security?
I looked a little further into this subject and learned a few more things. Cell phone records have been allowed in US courts to prove a defendant’s location at a certain time. There are organizations that are concerned with the privacy issues. Most surprising to me, there are private companies that will track anyone you like, for a fee, and it is a legal business. As for national security, it trumps everything; the government can certainly track suspicious persons by cell phone records if they want to, and probably without court approval, just by claiming it is a matter of national security. GF