cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16216017

My grocery store wants to know my BMI

If they were interested in my location they could request location data. What are the odds they are doing this to directly market products to people based on health data?

Inb4 “They already do that based on what you regularly purchase”

Of course, yes they do. This appears to be one more layer on top of it. And surely they wouldn’t share that information with the pharmacy, right?

    • pdxfed@lemmy.worldEnglish
      151·
      6 months ago

      You’re consumer capitalism-ing wrong:

      "Your BMI has been provided to us by your computer operating system Windows 12. We see you’ve selected several high sugar items in your shopping basket. We’ve automatically bundled a required Linked Product discount and added a free insulin starter kit, a book from an unsuccessful weight loss program, and a paid subscription to motivational podcasts from Hostess International. Please note, these subscriptions are set for a term of LIFE and will pass to your heirs as a liability thanks to the 2025 Consumer Freedom Act passed by convicted felon, rapist and second-term president Donald Trump’s CPFB (Corporate Financial Protection Bureau) "

      Your problems are something to maximize and profit from.

      • edgemaster72@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        6 months ago

        CPFB (Corporate Financial Protection Bureau)

        I choose to believe that this is not a typo but that they will, in fact, create some bureau and give it an initialism that doesn’t match what it stands for

        • pdxfed@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5·
          6 months ago

          It’s not a typo, that’s why it’s in italics. They would deliberately rename it to an acronym that would be difficult to disambiguate. They also would pass an act that does the opposite of its name, as has been done countless times.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.netEnglish
    4·
    6 months ago

    “Osco has noticed you are OBESE. Osco will now filter your grocery shopping experience to only show healthy food options. Osco has also referenced your checking account and filtered out options you can not afford. Now showing… BEANS.”

    • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      LOL, nah, your altruistic leftism is showing. In reality, the algorithm would advertise more unhealthy foods to an obese person because it knows that’s the kind of shit their lizard-brain wants to buy. It would also helpfully offer high-interest revolving credit if your account balance is low.

  • MotoAsh@lemmy.worldEnglish
    48·
    6 months ago

    It’s a telemetry category. What ever OS that is does not do separate permissions, probably not to confuse tech-illiterate users.

    Scummy of the OS? No. Stupid? Well, it’s made for stupid people…

    The app MIGHT want location just to limit items to what are actually locally available in your area and the like. Though with modern capitalism… Who’s to say how many companies will see that information for no other reason than they want to own you…

    • BowtiesAreCool@lemmy.worldEnglish
      191·
      6 months ago

      This is iOS, if it was asking for location it would say location. This is specifically asking for health data like BMI, average heart rate if they wear an Apple Watch, steps etc.

      • MotoAsh@lemmy.worldEnglish
        311·
        6 months ago

        iOS … ok that makes sense for the made for stupid people but… Does the application control the subtext of the permissions request? If location is NOT included in that category, then Apple has made a grave mistake of allowing app makers to openly lie to users…

        BTW, a mismatch in permissions could be because the app was made with a common build tool that doesn’t understand (or maybe the app developer themselves failed to understand) that it could request location by itself.

        … Or they really are trying to harvest more info than they want to admit… but then I ask … Why is it on Apple’s closed app store if it’s lying to users? (because Apple also doesn’t care. they just want to appear to care)

        • BowtiesAreCool@lemmy.worldEnglish
          7·
          6 months ago

          The top comment in the thread this one is cross posted from has a plausible reason for it if it is an app and genuine

        • BowtiesAreCool@lemmy.worldEnglish
          14·
          6 months ago

          The prompts from iOS are usually generic, it looks like this just may be a custom prompt from a website, might even be an ad or fake link, luckily iOS locks down their phones in the browser so you can’t really have anything bad happen other than lots of tabs opening but you can just kill the app.

          • AndrewZabar@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            5 months ago

            No you’re confusing with Android. The iOS ones are rather specific and health data is health data. It’s certainly not trying to access location or contacts or Bluetooth etc. it’s quite specific.

            • AndrewZabar@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              5 months ago

              Yeah I’m fairly certain it’s the app. If it were Safari it would either say Safari is trying to… or it would say the website so there would be a domain named. I think it’s fairly conclusive this is the store’s app.