Posted on 08/13/2026 2:10:32 PM PDT by DFG
McDonald’s compiled a 515-page dossier on one of its loyalty-program customers — using years of fast-food purchases to predict how often he would return, how much he would spend and even what he was likely to order.
Reece Rogers, a journalist for Condé Nast-owned Wired magazine, discovered the extensive digital profile after requesting the personal data McDonald’s had stored about him.
The file revealed a “Minority Report”-style trove of predictions about his future behavior, including that he would visit McDonald’s 2.16 times over the next six weeks and spend an average of $13.49 per order.
The fast-food giant calculated Rogers would spend a total of $29.15 over that six-week stretch, according to the report.
The dossier ranked a Large Diet Coke as Rogers’ most relevant product based on his past behavior, followed by a Spicy Snack Wrap and The Grinch McShaker Fry Large.
It also slotted his eating habits into oddly specific behavioral categories, including “Food-Led Afternoon Snack” and “On the Go Lunch in a Rush.”
McDonald’s also assigned Rogers a “Customer Attrition Likelihood” of zero — suggesting the company’s algorithm saw little chance that he would stop patronizing the Golden Arches.
The massive file contained a detailed history of Rogers’ transactions, the offers McDonald’s sent him and the loyalty points he accumulated.
It even kept track of every time he scanned a code while participating in the chain’s Monopoly sweepstakes — along with the prize he received.
“McDonald’s takes data privacy and security seriously, and we take robust steps to safeguard customer information,” a McDonald’s spokesperson told Wired.
“Like many digital loyalty programs, we use information such as past purchases to provide a more engaging, personal customer experience—like delivering the most relevant deals, offers and messages,” the spokesperson added.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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I sort of agree. There is an exchange of goods here. My information for your product.
There are two schools of thought here in the modern age:
1. Stay off-grid. Pay cash, get paid in cash. Ride a bicycle. Pay bills in person. (like Ted Kaczynski).
2. Flood the field with digital presence. Remember, "no reasonable prosecutor" would even take the case. /snark.
I choose #2. Leave a tangled web of personalities on social media, banking, and online presence. Like Free Republic.
Don't forget to donate, patriots. A dollar a day doesn't hurt that much.
Use their app? They know your purchase history.
Big deal.
Publix knows mine. They sometimes send me coupons based on what I buy. Kroger too.
Whoopie.
I own a small pizza restaurant. I know what my regulars want. Is that a problem?
Yep. YAWN.
Yes, I do.
Their app is constantly tracking you. Don’t believe me? Revoke its permissions
It logs you out after a order because you turned off its tracking
Why does a fast food app need to track you? (It doesn’t)
I deleted it from my phone.
Good article to post - I guess if I don’t want to be tracked by McDonald’s, I can:
1. Pay by credit card (I doubt Visa provides them with credit card info beyond the last 4 digits)
2. Pay by cash (I believe all McDonald’s still take cash)
3. Not go to McDonald’s (lots of practical alternatives)
Now a question to the Flock Apologists on this site. How do I opt out of Flock tracking without doing something super-expensive and time consuming (Uber, if even available, or walking)?
“Hamburgers are good for you, don’t be fooled.”
Only the meat in them.
“Hamburgers are good for you, don’t be fooled.”
Let me clarify - the meat and the cheese are healthy, the other stuff in the burger (ketchup, mustard, pickles) are so small in quantity that they’re essentially harmless.
Bottom like, buy the burgers, especially Quarter Pounders, throw out the buns, and you’ll have a healthy meal.
Probably should not have done that.
Not really. You scan the QR code, you fill out your survey, you pay with your phone, you use your "points". All results in a electronic data base built by you.
McDonalds is just collecting it.
And while the personal data is just something that they can sell to the data brokers the big money is in the meta data.
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