Amazon may know its shoppers a little too well.
Earlier this year, the online retail giant launched its "About You" personalization feature, which analyzes a user's browsing and shopping habits to create a profile of their interests and preferences. The feature generates recommendations across categories such as brands, hobbies, home and family, favorite departments and product preferences.
The more someone shops on Amazon, the more detailed the profile becomes,USA TODAYreported.
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The feature has gone viral on social media, where users are sharing Amazon's surprisingly specific, oddly accurate and often hilarious assessments of their personalities. Here's what to know and how to find yours.
What is the Amazon 'About You' feature?
Amazon introduced its "About You" feature in May.
According to anews release, the feature gives users a single place to view and manage the information that shapes their shopping recommendations. Customers can update preferences, provide feedback, add details they want Amazon to consider or remove information they don't want used for personalization.
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"Previously, customers could update recommendation preferences or edit browsing history to customize their search results," wrote Amazon in a statement. "Now, About You gives customers a single place to view and edit their preferences, creating a more comprehensive way to tailor their shopping experience.
Social media users share hilarious insights from Amazon's 'About You' feature
TikTok user @madelynteaguerecently shared the results of her Amazon "About You" profile, only to discover the retailer had boiled her identity down to one thing: cats.
"So I just discovered Amazon has an About You section … why am I such a loser?" she joked in a video.
According to her profile, Amazon had determined not only that she owns a cat, but that she's a devoted cat parent who regularly stocks up on supplies, prefers Fresh Step litter, prioritizes cleanliness-related litter features and cares for cats "extensively."
"That's humbling," she added.
"Mine straight up called me an alcoholic with a geriatric chihuahua," wrote X user @soggybroccolialongside several screenshots of their "About You" page.
According to the profile, Amazon had linked the user to wine and alcoholic beverages, listed "wine appreciation" among their interests and hobbies, and determined they owned a Chihuahua born in 2008. The profile went a step further, noting the dog had a heart murmur.
Perhaps the most brutally honest insight came from Amazon's assessment of one user's physique. Threads user @fangirlmeganshared that under her product preferences, Amazon had identified one of her characteristics as having "flat buttocks."
"I mean, it ain't wrong, but damn, did you have to call me out like that?" she added.
How to find the Amazon 'About You' feature
If you are using Amazon on desktop, you may find the About You page by taking the following steps:
- Visit amazon.com.
- Click Account & Lists in the upper right-hand corner.
- Scroll down and click "About You" under Ordering and Shopping Preferences.
To access the Amazon About You page on mobile, take the following steps:
- Open the Amazon mobile app.
- Click the profile icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Click Account.
- Scroll down and click "About You" under Account Settings.
How to turn off Amazon's About You feature
Amazon's About You feature cannot be turned off, but users can edit and delete preferences associated with their accounts.
What data does Amazon collect to personalize a user's About You?
According to Amazon's Privacy Notice, the company collects three types of information to personalize a user's experience:
- Information a user provides: This includes a user's name, contact information, address and bank account.
- Automatic information: This includes information about how users interact with products, content and services available through Amazon via "cookies" and "certain types of information" collected when a user's web browser or device accesses Amazon.
- Information from other sources: This includes updated delivery address information from carriers.
Contributing: USA TODAY
Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Amazon built a profile on you and it's brutally honest. Take a look
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