Amazon keeps a list of assumptions about every shopper: one user read in hers that she has a "flat butt"

A Threads user known as @fangirlinmegan stumbled across a page in her Amazon profile where the company had gathered its conclusions about her. Alongside harmless items like "shops in women's departments" and "likely owns a Shark robot vacuum", it also said she "has a flat butt".

"I came across a page of assumptions Amazon has made about me based on my purchases and I'm literally speechless. It's not wrong, but did it have to call me out like this?" she wrote. The post racked up over a million views in a single day, and other shoppers rushed to check what it said about them.

The explanation is banal: she had previously bought butt-shaping leggings. One product in the basket - and the algorithm immediately drew a conclusion about her body. That's the whole logic of profiling: you don't have to say anything about yourself, it's enough to pay.

The page isn't secret, just well buried. On a computer: "Account", then "Ordering and shopping preferences" and "Your Shopping preferences", then the "Manage your information" link at the bottom. In the app: the menu, then Account, Shopping preferences and About you. For journalists who checked their own profiles, the list knew that someone takes photos, plays collectible card games, is "invested in the Apple ecosystem", buys vinyl records or does pottery.

It's funny while we're talking about leggings. But if a single pair of leggings yields a conclusion about your body, what comes out of nappies, vitamins or a pregnancy test? Most people only found out about this list after someone stumbled on it by chance and complained publicly. How many other conclusions like these are sitting in the databases of the big platforms, with nobody having looked for them yet?