[oneandoneis2]

Not a fair comparison - the store can and will track my habits just as easily via the card I pay with. If I forsake the loyalty card, I don't get my privacy back - I just get tracked via another method unless I go out of my way to always carry enough cash to pay anonymously.

All the loyalty card does is allow them to track the occasional time I DO pay with cash, which is insignificant enough to be worth the discount. If a store made a genuine, binding offer to only track people with loyalty cards, THEN your question would be a valid comparison. At the moment, it just isn't.