A plan to piggyback supermarket loyalty schemes to tackle the UK’s weighty issue of obesity will be “strangled at birth”, according to industry sources, as the Government will face stiff resistance to divulge consumers’ shopping habits.
Recent reports claim that people who buy too much alcohol, fatty foods or sugary drinks would be targeted with ‘tailored’ health advice under plans being considered by the Coalition.
It has also been reported that a Whitehall unit set up to change the habits of Britons had already been in talks with the major supermarkets to gain access to their huge shopping databases.
But, according to sources, not only would that potentially break data protection laws, Tesco – which alone has 15 million members on its Clubcard scheme – would fiercely resist such calls.
An insider said: “This is a matter of trust. Brands caught handing over data willy-nilly on the whim of a think-tank could face a major backlash. I simply can’t see this plan getting the go-ahead; it’s likely to be strangled at birth.”
His view chimes with that of Tesco itself. Last year the retailer ruled out handing over data for a proposed rethink of the Census, with Clubcard director Janet Smith quoted as saying: “Customers trust Clubcard because they know Tesco would never compromise on the promise we make them. There’s no wriggle room, we just don’t break that promise. To do so would be to jeopardise not only customers’ trust, but also the success of the scheme.”
Prime Minister David Cameron is said to back these tactics, which are designed to slowly influence the choices of people rather than using Government legislation to force change.
But Health Secretary Andrew Lansley and other Tories are believed to be opposed to the idea in case they are accused of snooping on the public by employing ‘Big Brother’ techniques.
