How to find out if Amazon thinks you have ‘flat buttocks’
Amazon users are discovering that the company maintains a list of personal assumptions about them based on their purchase history. This feature has gone viral after a user shared that Amazon inferred she had 'flat buttocks' based on her shopping habits.
Why it matters
It highlights growing consumer concerns regarding data privacy and the extent of algorithmic profiling by major tech corporations.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Amazon collects data about you based on what you buy. If you buy a lot of cat litter, Amazon will probably infer that you have cats, or if you buy a lot of anti-acne skin products, then Amazon might guess you’re prone to breakouts. Even if we know that Amazon customizes our shopping experiences based on our purchase history, it still comes as a surprise to see all of these personal details laid out in a convenient list. Especially when those details get uncomfortably intimate.
One Threads user came across this section of her Amazon settings, where you can see who the shopping giant thinks you are, and alongside more benign assumptions like “Shops from women’s departments” and “Probably owns a Shark robot vacuum,” she found that Amazon assumes she “has flat buttocks.”
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