Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) is a national grass-roots consumer group dedicated to fighting supermarket "loyalty" or frequent shopper cards. CASPIAN's efforts are directed at educating consumers, condemning marketing strategies that invade shoppers' privacy, and encouraging privacy-conscious shopping habits.

CASPIAN represents the viewpoint of concerned shoppers around the nation who do not feel it is appropriate for supermarkets to register and monitor their customers. We feel that obtaining a basic survival item such as food should not require the use of a number. We feel that information about intimate details of our lives, such as the very food we put into our mouths, should not be stored in a computer database and subject to scrutiny. We want to stop corporations from strong-arming us into accepting these abuses.

Though supermarkets claim that shopper cards offer savings advantages to shoppers, the fact is that discounts have been around for a long time -- they used to be called "sales" and did not require people to sign away their privacy with numbered registration cards. We want supermarkets to drop the gimmicks, stop the cloak and dagger surveillance tactics, and get back to the basics that consumers really want -- low prices, friendly service, good selection, and above all respect for their customers.

CASPIAN's website features a comprehensive listing of the card status of over 400 stores and supermarket chains throughout the United States and elsewhere. In addition, CASPIAN has developed a persuasive set of arguments against frequent shopper cards and provides evidence that these programs do not save shoppers money.

CASPIAN was founded in October 1999 by Katherine Albrecht. Since that time, CASPIAN's volunteer executive team has grown to include over a dozen talented professionals and our membership base has expanded to include activists in nearly every state in the nation. Our website has received hundreds of thousands of visits from consumers around the world and thousands of e-mail messages condemning shopper cards and supporting our goals. CASPIAN's consumer advocacy efforts have been featured in Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, Extra!, the Boston Globe, the Seattle Times, NBC news, ABC News, PBS, and on numerous local radio and television programs.

For further information about CASPIAN or to request an interview, please send e-mail to Katherine Albrecht at kma@nocards.org .

CASPIAN
Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering
An information clearinghouse and resource for community and national action

© 1999-2005 Katherine Albrecht. All rights reserved.