Google allegedly paid Mastercard millions to Access users purchase data
2 September 2018
>Since the last year, a group of privileged advertisers has had the opportunity to find out which of their ads have led to a purchase in physical stores, thanks to a tool provided by Google. This tool is the result of a secret agreement with Mastercard, under which Mastercard would disclose certain details of its customers’ payment transactions.
>Last year, Google announced the launch of its “Store Sales Measurement” service, boasting access to nearly 70% of payment card transactions in the United States. It now appears that the launch of this service is the culmination of this secret partnership.
>All users of Google services who have not refused to be tracked
>Mastercard could even be just one of the financial institutions associated with this program, which could involve others. Purchases made by Mastercard affiliated payment cards accounted for about a quarter of all card transactions in the US, show Nilsen Report data.
>The data transmitted by Mastercard concerns all data relating to users of services offered by Google who have not refused to provide their personal information in order to be offered more targeted advertising in the service settings.
>A multi-million dollar contract
>According to two sources who collaborated on this partnership, Google paid millions of dollars to obtain this data. The two firms even discussed the possibility of sharing advertising revenues.
>This alliance, which allowed Google to link data related to online advertising campaigns with the resulting purchases, gave it a decisive advantage in its war against Amazon.
>Users have not been informed of this transmission of information
>According to Bloomberg, these clients were not informed of this exchange of information, especially since the two firms never publicly mentioned this partnership, which required 4 years of negotiations.
>The Mountain Views giant assures that it does not have access to data to identify buyers, thanks to encryption technologies. The program would only be a test, but would give Google the ability to associate user profiles with purchases made in physical stores. In this way, it can tell advertisers which of their ads have resulted in purchases.
>It remains to be seen which other financial institutions have also agreed to report their customers’ spending data without their knowledge. A new scandal involving disclosures of data without the consent of users may have just begun to erupt….
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