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‘The tyranny of apps’: those without smartphones are unfairly penalised, say campaigners (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/smartphone_required@lemmy.sdf.org
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[–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

I dunno. I don't have a smart phone, and I suppose I'm "missing out" on some of those deals, but I ain't worried about it. I don't want to be advertised at and tracked everywhere, but doing without is not a hardship. For the most part, the places that have apps and smartphone-only discounts and membership advantages and all are exactly the kind of places I don't want to go anyway.

I walk around with my head up, instead of scrolling through whatever y'all are scrolling through all the time. Got me a laptop at home, and a debit card and fifty bucks in my wallet. No complaints.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    The point is also in which direction do you think this will move? More app dependency or less? There'll be a point in time where cash won't be allowed and payments are by QR code bank transfer. Some parts of the world have places that completely excluded cash transactions. Once people can't buy basic goods without an app it'll be too late to start caring about app-led population exclusion.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I hope societies don't go cashless. Power outages, website crashes and glitches, not to mention other things.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I'm with you on that. However, some places in Asia are moving that way. Signs on shops with cashless payment only. Only a matter of time before it moves to Europe.

    https://www.seoulz.com/moving-towards-a-cashless-society-in-south-korea/

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    We have to take back our power and independence as much as possible. We have to demand the right to do that, relentlessly.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago*

    In some regions creditors and merchants have an obligation to accept cash and they are simply ignoring the law. But the gov does not enforce the cash acceptance law. It’s bizarre. Even more bizarre that people just go along with it. There was a case where a group went to an illegally cashless cafe. They ordered food and drinks and when the bill came they said “we only have cash”. The shop threatened to call the police. The customers said: please, we will wait. Police came. Customers explained that thier cash was refused. Police said: well, nothing for us to do here.. you’re free to go.

    We need more people to exploit unlawfully cashless situations. People should be happy to benefit while also doing a community service. Of course it’s not for folks who are afraid of cops and courts.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Indeed it needs to be fought.

    I’m with @DougHolland@lemmy.world in that I oppose surviellance advertising anyway, so if the loyalty tracking were taking place without a special app (e.g. scanning a bar code from plastic/paper), I would still not register.

    how to hit back (when there is a smartphone-free loyalty program)

    In some cases we can do better than Doug. E.g. grab a paper loyalty application form (if they are available), scan the barcode or QR code, return the blank form to the top of the pile. Someone else will activate that bar code with their personal details later. You can regenerate the barcode, store it on your phone (which need not be subscribed to GSM service), or print it on paper, and use the barcode for discounts (& pay cash of course). You obviously corrupt their surveillance advertising DB and also get the discounts.

    Win-win for me. But I guess it’s questionable to what extent the DB is being corrupted. My own purchases are still aggregated together which supports advertising. OTOH, it’s all aggregated to a different person, which to some extent corrupts the info. It’s unclear if this is overall more or less harmful to advertising.

    how to hit back (when a loyalty program is smartphone-only)

    Ideas? Perhaps we could create a barcode-sharing platform whereby some people take a hit for the team and register, then share their barcode for others. The volunteer would at least gain the benefit of their data being littered with data of other people.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I avoid the grocery stores that have 'loyalty programs', but when I'm there I always eagerly tell the cashier I'd like to sign up. They give me the blank paperwork and the discount, and I toss the paperwork in the trash on the way out.

    Does it mess with the database. Well, I hope so, but for me the point is only to get my grocs at a slightly less rip-off price. Mostly I go to old-fashioned businesses that make money selling whatever they sell, not selling my data.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    I avoid the grocery stores that have ‘loyalty programs’

    I have that option but it leads to other problems. The grocers who are so small that they have no loyalty program have a different problem: they have limited choice of brands for their small spaces and they tend to choose poorly. E.g. a small store close to me only has Kellogg’s-branded cereal, which I boycott. Their soaps are all Unilever or Proctor & Gamble. They choose the most popular brands for a lot of stuff. So to practice my boycotts against (probably hundreds of) brands requires a store big enough to carry generic nonames.

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