HeadlinesBriefing HeadlinesBriefing.com

Amazon's About You feature and privacy concerns

AppleInsider •
×

Amazon's About You is a big pearl-clutching topic on the Internet today. You have nobody but yourself to blame for giving them this data, and it is a reminder that big tech is monitoring your habits and preferences. As the tech revolution has progressed, one of the persistent issues is one of personal privacy. Your information is absolutely being used by companies to extract as much value and money from you as possible.

Retail info scraping: As the world's biggest online retailer, Amazon derives a ton of information about its users. In May 2026, Amazon promoted its About You page. That page can be used to view and edit details it has about you, based on your shopping and browsing habits. The intention is to let users correct mistakes or stop it from recommending specific types of products repeatedly.

For example, if a pet cat has passed on, the last thing you want is Tibbles' favorite cat food recommended to you. The About You page lists different departments you frequently visit, along with brands and other insights. It'll remember that you have bought Ugreen USB accessories, and that your cat prefers Felix.

What Amazon "knows" is based on your purchase history, conversations with Alexa for Shopping, product reviews, lists, and searches. To Amazon, getting these preferences is "fundamental to providing you with high-quality, relevant recommendations." You could continue that sentence with "that you will be tempted to give us money for."

Source: AppleInsider · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing