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> I don't want McDonald's to know if I've ever eaten at McDonald's. Call me crazy,

You are crazy.

Back in the good old pre-Internet commerce days, when you'd go in person to a store, you did not have a reasonable expectation that the owners/employees will forget you once you're gone. If you didn't want the owner/employees to know, you'd get someone else to go in on your behalf.

If you don't want McDonald's to know, get someone else to buy for you.

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There are a number of small cafes and shops I frequent. The owners / people who work there know me, know my habits, and will know my order before I even ask.

Those people all have a profit motive, and use their knowledge about my interactions with the store to try to increase the profit they make from me.

I feel like that is just running a business. Every business owner pays attention to their customers and their habits. That just seems like good business, and it doesn’t bother me at all. I want them to figure out what I want, and I am happy to pay them a reasonable fee for doing that.

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That's fine, but it's hard to transfer the knowledge in the store owner's head easily and at scale.
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