Google knows where you're using your credit and debit cards
Google now knows how your shopping habits in the "real world" correspond with the ads you interact with online. The advertising giant is teaming up with credit and debit card companies to "match up in-store purchases with your online identity," CNN reports.
"The privacy implications of this are pretty massive, so Google needs to tread very carefully," San Diego State University marketing professor Miro Copic told the Los Angeles Times. The massive partnership between Google and the card companies will account for 70 percent of all debit or credit card purchases in the country.
You can get around Google tracking your IRL purchases, but it isn't exactly easy: You would have to either log out of your Google account before searching anything, or turn off your search history. CNN also suggests using "cash," like some sort of caveman, "to buy your frosty and fries."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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