Amazon shoppers question personal inferences on About You

Amazon’s About You page is drawing attention after shoppers shared screenshots of personal characterizations the retailer associated with their accounts, including one describing a customer as having “flat buttocks.” The feature lets customers review and remove entries used to shape personalized recommendations, but removing an entry does not erase the underlying shopping activity, according to reporting on Amazon’s guidance. The page, available through Amazon account settings, displays some of the interests and characteristics the company associates with a customer. Shoppers posted examples that included assumptions about family life, pets, hobbies and physical traits. The screenshots show what appeared on those profiles, but do not establish whether each inference was accurate or how Amazon generated it. Amazon says About You draws on customers’ shopping activity, including purchases and searches, to inform recommendations. Descriptions of the feature also include saved lists, product reviews and conversations with Alexa for Shopping. Amazon has said the page is intended to make some of the information behind personalization visible and manageable.