Caffeine Intelligence

Writing names, any names, on the cups makes the “caffeine-addicted” customers nervous. And the Barristas are given background checks before they can foam their first latte. Welcome to the CIA Starbucks: “There are no frequent-customer award cards, because officials fear the data stored on the cards could be mined by marketers and fall into the wrong hands, outing secret agents.” How little they share provides a cautionary reminder of how much data we share each time we participate in almost any transaction, even if we stick to decaf. It’s also a reminder that it’s National Coffee Day.