Big Data

Until recently, I wasn’t a big ‘App’ user on my mobile phone.  I didn’t see the point of them, other than Mah Jong or Scrabble. Plus, more often than not I forget to take my phone with me, or to charge it up.

Since having a bit more time on my hands for gadgets, I have discovered that some of the more practical apps can be quite useful.  The NHS ‘Weight Loss’ app for instance, calculates your BMI, calorie counts for you, records your daily exercise and even reminds you to have your five a day.  In the same vein, the Sainsbury’s Smartshop app is very useful (as long as you remember to take your phone with you) for a perpetual shopping list.  It even pre-loads your personal weekly Nectar card price reductions, so that your discounts are zoomed into the checkout at the zap of a QR code and a smiley face.  I use both of these apps; they are a boon.

However, this is a two-way street. 

Recently, ‘Weight Loss’, let’s call it WL, suggested that I ‘stop having a sweet treat at lunchtime’.  Now, it’s perfectly possible that I typed that in as a goal weeks ago and have forgotten.  But in my opinion, popping it up as a reminder is just plain bad manners.

Worse was still to come.  Today, I received an ebullient email from Sainsbury’s Smartshop (I won’t say what we’ll call it).   In which it felt the need to let me know how much I have saved using my Nectar discounts over the last year.  I have apparently ‘popped’ 102 Nectar prices into my basket.  It then proceeded to let me know that the discounts I ‘popped’ most were, sweet treats. 

App shamed.

Now that is just plain rude.

Are they in cahoots?