Amazon uses its tracking data to guess whether shoppers have a flat butt and no friends
Amazon users have discovered that the company's 'About You' settings contain oddly specific and sometimes unflattering personality profiles derived from shopping data. While some users find the descriptions accurate, others are using social media to share the bizarre assumptions Amazon has made about their lives.
Why it matters
It raises awareness about the extent of consumer data profiling and the transparency of algorithmic personalization in e-commerce.
Most people know that Amazon collects data about your shopping history to serve up personalized product recommendations. But what some of us didn’t realize is that you can check exactly what Amazon knows — or thinks it knows — about you in your settings menu. One user’s findings went viral on Threads after she discovered that Amazon assumed she “has flat buttocks” based on her purchases, resulting in a flood of other posts with users sharing the oddly specific information Amazon uses to describe them.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in