Free food for personal data is a trade some diners won’t make


  • TECH
  • Tuesday, 19 Jun 2018

A customer picks-up his smart phone order from a new mobile order window tested at a Starbucks coffee shop in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 15, 2018. Picture taken March 15, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake

When Starbucks baristas in Calgary, Canada, call across the café to let “Jonah” know his iced coffee with almond milk and caramel syrup is ready, it’s Rhonda O’Blenes who heads to the counter to collect the drink. 

That’s because O’Blenes, a 46-year-old social worker who doesn’t even know a Jonah, uses a fake name in her Starbucks Corp rewards app. Her kids’ names used for drink orders are aliases too, and the address provided to Starbucks is a condensed version of her real one. For as loyal as she is to the coffee giant, O’Blenes wants to give her app as little real information about her as possible. 

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