TECH

Google will have used Mastercard data to track purchases made offline
Last year, Google launched a tool to track sales volume in physical stores, allegedly to measure the effectiveness of online ads over promoted products. The company never explained how the system worked in practice, but Bloomberg is moving forward now that the information was passed by MasterCard. This is because, it seems, the technology giant has invested millions in shares of the bank, according to sources connected to the business.In this regard, Google has access to information about the transactions and transactions of Mastercard customers used to develop the ad monitoring application. The publication notes that the approximately two billion Mastercard holders are not aware of the control system, as both companies have never publicly disclosed this agreement.Experts say that these supervisory actions, as they are not reported to customers, raise privacy issues because people are not expecting what they buy in physical stores to be linked to what they buy online. An attorney states that people should be informed about what companies do with their personal data.Google reports that its tool does not give you access to any of your partner's customer credit card personal information, and that it is not shared. The process is done through encrypted data that nobody has access to.Bloomberg explains how the offline purchasing supervision system works. It is mentioned for example that a person wants to buy some shoes, does the research online and ends up clicking on an advertisement, but without proceeding to purchase online. What Google intends to confirm is if the person then purchases them in a physical store, using the payment through the Mastercard. If this is confirmed, the technology giant will know and will report to the advertiser the effectiveness of the ad.



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