A McDonald's algorithm predicted a reporter would spend $29.15 — then he legally pulled his own data file
aakashgupta · x · 2026-08-23
WIRED reporter Reece Rogers used his legal right as a California resident to request every piece of data McDonald's held on him. The company's algorithm predicted he would visit exactly 2.16 times over six weeks, spend $13.49 per order and $29.15 total, and assigned him a zero attrition score — a customer for life in McDonald's math. The case shows how granular corporate algorithmic profiling can be, and what data-access laws can reveal.
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