Skip to Content

NorgesGruppen supermarket. Facebook
Oslo

Norway to track all food purchases

Statistics Norway plans to capture several million daily receipts from food stores, signalling a new era in state data collection. Privacy advocates as well as supermarkets question this move.

Published: June 5, 2022, 10:21 am

    Such a collection will signal a new shift in data collection and surveillance for the SSB, as the agency now seeks to force private companies and not just public ones to comply with state oversight. Given the rise in identity theft in Norway, many have grave concerns about the need for increased data collection.

    Statistics Norway (SSB), the state-owned entity responsible for collecting, producing and communicating statistics related to the economy, population and society at national, regional and local levels, now also wants to know where what Norwegians buy and where they shop, according to a report by NRK.

    In Norway every citizen is linked to their fødselnummer (birth number), and thus the SSB is well-informed about what individuals earn, their taxes due and their criminal records.

    But it appears that the SSB does not yet know enough about their subjects. it has ordered Norway’s major supermarket chains NorgesGruppen, Coop, Bunnpris and Rema 1000 to share all their receipt data with the agency. Nets, the payment processor that is responsible for 80 percent of transactions related to supermarket purchases, will also need to provide data.

    “A link between a payment transaction made with a debit card and a grocery receipt enables SSB to link a payment transaction and receipt for more than 70 percent of grocery purchases,” SSB said in an assessment.

    Privacy advocates and the retail industry rejected the proposal.

    Why is SSB doing this?

    SSB claims they want “a less time-consuming way” of collecting and analysing data on household consumption in order to design an appropriate tax policy, adjust social assistance and child allowance payments.

    In 2012, Norwegian households had listed household purchases in a paper booklet, but according to the SSB the survey was time-consuming and error-prone. This prompted discussions on whether the state could take advantage of tracking digital footprints left by consumers.

    “When the purchases are linked to a household, it will be possible in the consumption statistics to analyze socio-economic and regional differences in consumption, and link it to variables such as income, education and place of residence,” the SSB said. They claim that they are only concerned about regional data, but NTNU researcher Lisa Reutter underscored how the public sector was being digitised and was using more and more data.

    Reutter is among those concerned with the state’s thirst for increased data collection. “When we increase the public administration’s ability to classify, predict and control citizens’ behaviour using large amounts of digital data, the balance of power between citizen and state is shifted,” she said.

    Pushback from retailers

    The biggest player in Norwegian grocery retail, NorgesGruppen said they would appeal the decision and ask the Norwegian Data Protection Authority for guidance, according to NRK.

    Payment processor Nets said they share concern “about the collection and compilation of data that may be problematic and intrusive for the individual citizen.”

    Coop spokesperson Harald Kristiansen also expressed his reservations about this plan. While Coop believes that the SSB may be acting in good faith, the company will nevertheless consider appealing the order.

    Data collection in supermarkets is nothing new, however. Many consumers already make available all their purchase data to supermarkets and other retailers in the form of loyalty programs and cards.

    While consumers are offered discounts, supermarkets in turn gain access to valuable information about individual purchasing habits and preferences.

    But the big difference between these loyalty programs and the SSB proposal is that supermarket loyalty programs are optional.

    Consider donating to support our work

    Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.

    Keep ​your language polite​. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in​,​ for example​, ​Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.

    If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violation​s​ of​ any​ law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.

    If your comments are subject to preview ​by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.

    We reserve the right to del​ete​ comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.

    Europe

    Thousands of Flemish farmers block roads in Brussels against nitrogen policy

    BrusselsMore than 2500 farmers from Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region gathered at Brussels' central Arts-Loi street and blocked roads with tractors toward Brussels to protest the regional government's plan to limit nitrogen emissions.

    Orban: EU energy sanctions costing citizens billions

    BudapestHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that some western states could soon send troops to Ukraine. He also criticized the fact that the EU sanctions against Russia had cost Hungarian taxpayers tens of billions of euros.

    Italy: New leader of the Social Democrats is one of Soros’ ‘preferred politicians’

    RomeDuring the election campaign, Elly Schlein presented herself as the standard-bearer of the poorest. However, her background and previous work raise doubts about her honesty.

    UK greenhouses shut down due to high energy costs

    LondonIn Great Britain, a particularly depressing facet of the crisis is now showing its first contours - and thus anticipating what is likely to happen in other European countries in the near future: because of the exploding energy prices, agriculture is being strangled and fresh produce has to be rationed.

    Lisbon opens borders to all Portuguese speakers

    LisbonNot only the German and Italian governments keep opening new paths for immigration. Portugal, too, has opened a Pandora's box and is paving the way for possibly millions of non-European immigrants to the EU – something which is not mentioned by the mainstream media.

    Illegal immigration to Italy has reached its highest level ever

    RomeIn Italy, despite the overwhelming right-wing electoral success in September, there is still nothing to be seen of the promised asylum turnaround – on the contrary. Giorgia Meloni has been in office for five months, but the arrivals of migrants in Italy have doubled compared to the previous year.

    Dismantling diplomacy with ‘feminist foreign policy’

    BudapestGerman Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) wants to counter German security issues abroad with feminist politics. Gender training, LGBTQ events and quotas are now part of their new guidelines, which are intended to bring about "cultural change". The German ambassador to Hungary, Julia Gross, provided an embarrassing example.

    Germans demand investigation of Nord Stream sabotage

    BerlinAfter the sensational revelations by US investigative reporter Seymour Hersh about the perpetrators of the Nord Stream attacks on September 26, 2022, the German government has remained silent. It does not want to comment on Hersh's research results, according to which the pipelines were blown up by Americans and Norwegians.

    Macron mulling withdrawal of Putin’s Legion of Honour award

    ParisAt the end of Jacques Chirac's term in 2007, France and Russia still maintained cordial relations. During his speech at a tripartite summit, the French president had even mentioned bilateral relations that were "excellent in all respects, particularly in the fields of energy, infrastructure and aeronautics".

    UN dossier sounds the alarm : ISIS cells eye Balkan route

    New YorkThe risk that terrorists could reach the Mediterranean coasts is growing. A UN dossier has warned that jihadists have been crossing the Balkans in attempts to reach the EU.

    Go to archive