“A Small Deal, A Big Reflection – What Are We Giving Up for a Discount?”

Recently, I had a conversation in a store – one similar to hundreds before:

• “Do you have our loyalty card?”
• No.
• Would you like to have one?
• No, thank you
• You’ll get a 10% discount on your purchases in our store, including today’s. All you need to do is provide your name and surname…

Since there was a bit “on the table” I finally gave in. And a moment after leaving the store, a question came to my mind – who bought what from whom? I bought goods – a material item, for which I paid a price – clear case, a sales contract. At a “reduced price” meaning I only got a discount because I gave my surname (yes, email too – but that’s not the core of my question), or maybe some other transaction took place regarding that name, surname and email?

On one hand, personal rights (including surname) are inalienable. On the other, we often agree, e.g. to the publication of our image – often implicitly, without reading those little signs informing us that the building is under constant video surveillance and that more information is available at the reception. Meaning inside, where the surveillance already is. But that’s just a side note.

It also happens that we grant permission to use our image or surname in return for payment – maybe not all of us, but those whose image or name can serve, for example, as an advertising incentive. The same goes for those tempting, numerous loyalty cards. We give a paid right to use our data “in exchange” for a discount. We agree to certain (potential) inconveniences related to the fact that we have partially handed over the right to control our personal good to someone else. In the case of an image – that an undefined group of recipients will feast their eyes on our likeness, which, with someone’s vivid imagination, may cause some psychological discomfort. In the case of a surname, our personal data – that some undefined entity knows something about us we’d rather they didn’t know. For example, an email address, which results in budding mailing lists from increasingly curious entities “processing our data.”.

And while in the case of paid consent to use one’s image, the matter is relatively simple, as it is directly regulated by Article 81 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act (though the issue of what legal institution is hidden under this “consent” could be developed infinitely), in the case of a name and surname (email?), I have not found any regulation complementing Article 23 of the Civil Code with regard to the nature of what is commonly referred to – and often ticked off thoughtlessly – as “marketing consent” in exchange for various benefits.

And here I am, into the second week, still wondering what exactly I did with my personal rights in exchange for that, frankly, rather measly 10%.