” If it’s free, you are the product. “The maxim made famous by the French voice of Bruce Willis makes every day a little more weight on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Shiru Coffee, a chain in japan that also has premises in India and the United States, assumes his bias, gives details of the National Public Radio (NPR) in an article relayed by Slate.
The american media is interested in the topic after the opening of the first local in Providence, at Brown university. This café, located on campus, is reserved for students and educational staff. To order a drink, you need to fill an online form in which customers give their first name, last name, email, date of birth, or professional interests.
An agreement with companies with a
what use are these data ? They are sold to companies as ” sponsors “, who pay the coffee to have access to these data. “Thanks to the free drink, we try to give to the students of the proprietary information, some companies wish their book, so as to diversify the choices of their future career “, explains the chain on its website.
Concretely, the students then receive suggestions of applications or targeted advertising on their phones. In addition, on the screens of the Shiru Coffee, no tv or music, but the ads are chosen by the companies. An environment that is strengthened by the employees of the cafes, who are trained to promote the various businesses that have purchased advertising space. In Asia, companies such as Microsoft, Nissan and Suzuki are already positioned in this sector.
The fact of providing this information does not seem to pose problems to students. As highlighted by a student, they are, after all, already available on LinkedIn or Google. “If the data are already collected, why not take the opportunity to have a free cup of coffee “, leading the New York Mag. On the other hand, some teachers point to the limits hidden the system. “If they give something free of charge, this means that the data that are collected, regardless of to whom they are directed, are more valuable than the product offered. “New cafes will soon open to Princeton, Yale or Harvard.
