Avast Blog_Tips & Advices: What does Amazon know about you?

[harlan4096]

The question of whether or not giving up a hefty amount of data is “worth it” in exchange for convenience is a complicated one with Amazon

I’m old enough to remember a time when Amazon was just a cheaper way to get your (overpriced) college textbooks. “Prime” referred primarily to beef. Same-day shipping was a pipe dream. No one knew Jeff Bezos’ name.

It was a simpler time. 

These days, of course, it feels like Amazon has a finger in everything — including, most recently, space. The direct-to-consumer model that the company tested with books has expanded to include, well, basically anything you can think of. And as people have tried to limit their exposure to other people during the Covid-19 pandemic, Amazon has only gotten richer and more powerful. (And, to be fair, this was a pretty vital service for many, if not most, of us.)

As has their leader Jeff Bezos. And that entire empire — including the rocket Bezos just rode into space — was built on data. Your data. My data. Her mom’s data. The neighbor’s data. Everyone’s data. Amazon has become one of the most powerful companies in the world by sucking up and utilizing data any and every way they can.

To illustrate that, here’s a list of Amazon’s products and services, as of summer 2021:

• Cloud computing
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
    
  • Amazon Photos
    
  • Amazon Drive
    
  • Amazon S3
    
• Entertainment
  • Amazon Video 
    
  • Twitch
    
  • Prime Music
    
  • Amazon Music
    
  • Kindle Fire TV
    
  • Amazon Luna
    
  • Amazon Publishing
    
• Ecommerce
  • Amazon Marketplace
    
  • Amazon Basics
    
  • Amazon Prime
    
  • Amazon Business
    
  • vine.com
    
  • diapers.com
    
  • wag.com
    
  • YoYo.com
    
  • shopbop.com
    
  • woot.com
    
  • zappos.com
    
• Electronics
  • Kindle
    
  • Kindle Fire
    
  • Fire TV Stick
    
  • Echo
    
• Delivery
  • Flex app
    
  • Amazon Logistics 
    
• Groceries
  • Amazon Fresh
    
  • Whole Foods
    
  • Amazon Prime Pantry
    
• Stores/In-person commerce
  • Amazon Go
    
  • Amazon Fresh
    
  • Amazon Books
    
  • Amazon Cash
    

As you can see, it’s a lot. And that’s not even including the many sub-companies and services that exist under each one. Needless to say, depending on which of these many services you use, it’s possible that Amazon knows a lot about you.

Since diving into every single one of these products and services would take longer than any of us has time for, I’m going to look specifically at what Amazon knows about me, based on the products that I use. Here’s what I found.

What does Amazon know about me?

First, let’s do a quick catalog of which Amazon products I’m signed up for. I use Amazon Marketplace, Amazon Prime, Kindle, and Whole Foods.

Marketplace (aka amazon.com) is probably the Amazon service that knows the most about me. I’m absolutely guilty of thinking of a random item I need — whether it’s toilet paper, potting soil, sewing stuff or make up — and clicking into the Amazon app. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that my Amazon order history is more revealing about me than even my Facebook history, if only because I probably do more on Amazon than I do on Facebook. 

For example, Amazon definitely knows that I sew and do embroidery, because even though I live right near one of the biggest fabric districts in the world, there are random tools and supplies that are hard to find, so I order them online. They know I have a cat, because I ordered Greenies and a grooming brush and litter from them, and they know I have a serious coffee habit, because I have four bags of Lavazza on Subscribe & Save. 

Amazon TV comes with Prime, which both my partner and I are subscribed to. That means the company knows what kinds of TV we like to watch, when we watch it, and what doesn’t interest us.

Kindle for sure knows me — I read a lot. They like to serve up cheesy domestic thrillers, which have been my brain candy reads lately. (Who doesn’t love a predictable, yet slightly scary, plot line in the midst of a global pandemic?) When my Kindle isn’t on Airplane Mode, they also know when I’m reading.

When I shop at Whole Foods, I always scan my little QR code on my phone so that I get all the Prime “discounts.” That means Amazon also knows things like what I eat and drink, as well as how often I buy groceries. In fact, some Prime Now members are now reporting that they’re in-store and online shopping has been linked.
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