What happened

New York Times' Charles Duhigg reported that a father had discovered that his teenage daughter was pregnant when he complained to a Target store in Minneapolis that she had received pregnancy-related coupons.

It transpired Target had been calculating the likelihood that its customers were pregnant, and estimated due dates, by combining data from individual purchases across approximately 25 product categories, such as prenatal vitamins and lotions, with sociodemographic characteristics from public records databases.

Each shopper was then assigned a 'pregnancy prediction' score that would enable the retailer to send coupons and other marketing information.

It also transpired that Target had been producing brochures that had some non-baby merchandise sprinkled around the baby goodies, so the newly pregnant women would not realise they had been targeted. 

Why it happened

Target used predictive analytics to drive sales and market its products and services more efficiently by identifying major life changes like pregnancy early. 

The lack of clear disclosure about this profiling and ethical considerations led to backlash.