Shiru Cafe’s customers are all college students (as a requirement) and instead of cash students pay with personal data.
To get the free coffee, university students must give away their names, phone numbers, email addresses and majors, or in Brown’s lingo, concentrations. Students also provide dates of birth and professional interests, entering all of the information in an online form. By doing so, the students also open themselves up to receiving information from corporate sponsors…
I know it sounds horrifying, but think of it this way. First, it’s voluntary. If you don’t want to give them your information, you can go to another shop and pay with cash (free market capitalism right there). Second, students will realize how valuable their data is, and maybe rethink giving it away for free in the future to the likes of Google and Facebook. It’s fine if you do, but understanding the tradeoff is important.
Check It Out: In This Cafe Students Pay With Their Personal Data
H. sapiens’ prefrontal cortex, the seat of wisdom (aka sound judgement), does not reach full development until about 25 years of age. Young adults are thus particularly prone to making rash, shortsighted, and face-palm inducing decisions that have consequences that may well last the rest of their lives. Beer manufacturers take advantage of this window of binge-drinking opportunity. So do private college loan providers. (What 18 year old is capable of truly understanding what a $50 thou debt means?) And armed forces the world over. (Try to get a bunch of 25 year old draftees to charge up a well-fortified hill.) Shiru is merely joining in the feeding frenzy.