The Toll Disguised as a Reward

Lecture 10 — SLOP2236

The discount is the fee you pay to be tracked.

The reward that replaces the relation

  • the card’s “reward” simulates gratitude while performing surveillance
  • the two are no longer distinguishable to the shopper holding it
  • a very good deal — for the store

The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth — it is the truth which conceals that there is none.

— Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation

What the form actually asks for

  • what the sign-up form asks, against what the discount actually needs
  • one year of one shopper’s data, mapped
  • who else that data could plausibly be sold to

Before next week

  • find your own loyalty card, or a supermarket’s sign-up form
  • read what it actually asks for, field by field
  • name one discount you’ve received, and what it cost you in information