Amazon users have discovered they can view some of the interests and characteristics the company associates with their accounts through a new "about you" feature. The feature offers a glimpse into the inferences Amazon makes about customers based on shopping activity and other interactions with their platform, putting people into categories ranging from "has a cat" to "probably has a games console." One Threads user even found that Amazon has characterized her as "has flat buttocks," something she said left her "speechless." While many recommendations are visible across the site, the "About You" section shows some of the specific interests and characteristics Amazon associates with individual accounts. The company declined to comment when approached by Newsweek.
Amazon says it uses these profiles to personalize shopping experiences, product recommendations and advertising shown to customers. According to the company's advertising disclosures, it creates groups of customers based on their shopping and entertainment interests and uses "rules-based and model-based profiling techniques" to determine what products and services a customer may be interested in. Providing more information on its site, Amazon says, "We use what we know about you from your shopping activity, orders and conversations with Alexa to help us make better recommendations and provide more helpful responses." The new "About You" section uses clearly advertised customer tracking, but customers have long worried not only about what Amazon collects but also the conclusions it draws from their information and how long data is retained.
In 2023, the FTC alleged Amazon kept some children's Alexa voice recordings and geolocation information for years, even after parents attempted to delete them, and used some retained data to improve Alexa algorithms. Amazon agreed to a $25 million settlement requiring changes to its practices. If you are keen to work out what the retail giant thinks of you, it is fairly simple.
On Amazon's desktop site, go to the "Your Account" page. Under the "Ordering and Shopping Preferences" option, click "Your Shopping Preferences" and navigate to "About You" at the bottom of the page. Click "Manage Your Information," where Amazon shares its "About You" page—which is in beta testing mode.
Here customers can see their Amazon categories and remove or alter them to make them more accurate. Users who accessed Amazon's "About You" page shared examples of the categories associated with their accounts, prompting discussion about how technology companies build consumer profiles from shopping activity. Some of the discoveries in Amazon's new profile section were particularly personal.
According to one Threads user, her page included "Has a bad father." She said the description made her "laugh out loud," before adding, "How do they know." Another user said they had been accurately profiled as a "cat mom," with their profile identifying them as someone who "consistently invests in cat care" and "cares for a cat." Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and Shakeema Edwards.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
