this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2026
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The kiosk doesn't collect data about me, afaik. I don't have to log in to it. And it's not like I care if someone sees what I order. They're gonna be able to see me eat it, too, since if I am in the store I am usually gonna eat in the store.
Was thinking more about the looking over your shoulder aspect.
You use a credit card right? probably one with the same number you use in other places with your name and address attached right? They know what you buy man. Odds are some commercial source has every possible detail about your life attached to it like your wage history, purchasing history, web viewing/commenting history...
Maybe if you used pre-paid gift gift cards or something you could be somewhat anonymous, but nowadays with how cheap and easy facial recognition tech, walking gait tech and license plate reader tech is.. doubt that will work for long.
Edit: Mcdonalds is using cameras to verify the accuracy of orders before they are handed to customers. Do you REALLY think they aren't going to go a step further and record license plates, faces and gait? Verkada, a commercial brand of cameras I manage, already does this publicly for plates and faces. Gait is not new and as unique as a fingerprint. Nobody is going to admit they are tracking your biomechanics, even if they do it every single day.
AI/ML gets shit wrong and sure, maybe in rare instances you'll be mistaken for someone else... but they're going hard into surveillance tech. They already have surveillance promotions where different people get different promotions at the same store for the exact same products.
This is a crazy amount of paranoia, especially from someone who is instead recommending a fucking app.
But it's not like you or anyone here can show the damage to privacy or otherwise a fast food app is going to have versus the very real conveniences others have brought up here.
McDonald's privacy page:
I love how they call out the in person surveillance plain as day and people still think it's private to even go there lol.
"Improve our operations" doesn't preclude them from building a profile about you, selling it to increase revenue, or using it for advertising to target you individually to maximize sales/profitability.
In some states like mine it's illegal to record audio indoors on CCTV... but who the fuck is going to know if it's there or not?
Damage? Where's the damage? I'm just not sure that giving up practical conviences for whatever this reads like to you and has you worried about is worth it. You'd use no apps ever. And you'd have to consistently be going with less as the technology moves on and you boycott it all. They are literally not staffing these places the way they used to.
Sounds like you don't quite understand the significance of that information.
If you would please post your name, email acounts, mailing address, GPS location, social media accounts, and credit card numbers... I'm sure plenty of people can give you some examples.
No one you just mentioned is providing any service to me whatsoever. That's not a 1:1 example. Also, these places have removed traditional ways of doing business with them, in some locations. So, how do you get around that without limiting yourself or simply denying yourself? I'm speaking practically.
I'm not happy about the privacy issues. I'm just not sure I'd let them win over my other needs/wants.
You just don't do business with them. It's that easy. Unless you live in some tiny town with ONLY a McDonald's, there are a million identical options where you can order without any app and talk directly to a human.
https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Moving-the-Goalposts
Let's stick with McDonalds then. Please state who has access to your collected name, email accounts, mailing address, GPS location, social media accounts, and credit card numbers.
Then please state which companies McDonalds has purchased the same information from, and sold that information to, as stated in the privacy page.