After exercising legal rights as a California resident, a consumer received a 515-page dossier from McDonald’s detailing the massive extent of its data collection. The report, generated through the company's loyalty program, uses predictive models to track consumer behavior with startling precision.

Using generative AI to parse the document, the consumer discovered that McDonald’s had predicted specific future behaviors, including an estimated 2.16 visits over the next six weeks and a total predicted spend of $29.15. The data even categorized the user into behavioral archetypes like "On the Go Lunch in a Rush" and identified a "Large Diet Coke" as a top product.

Privacy experts, including Jeff Chester and Lorrie Cranor, noted that while such data collection is standard for US loyalty programs, the level of detail feels invasive. The report highlighted a significant power imbalance, where aggregated data and AI processing create a highly personal picture of a customer's daily life. Ultimately, the consumer requested that McDonald's delete all stored information to seek a clean slate.