Half of US Shoppers Hide Their Contact Details to Get Retail Deals

More than half of US shoppers say they do not provide their real phone number or email address when signing up for retail discounts, coupons or promotions, according to a survey of more than 1,000 consumers by privacy company Cloaked. The findings point to a tension between retailers’ efforts to collect customer details and consumers’ concerns about how that information may be used or exposed.

In the survey, 51% said they withhold their real contact information when registering for deals. Among those respondents, 65% cited concerns including data breaches, the sale or sharing of personal information, and cross-account tracking. Across everyday situations more broadly, 89% said they avoid sharing their actual phone number or email address at least once.

Avoiding unwanted messages was the most commonly reported reason: 91% said they withhold their details to prevent spam or marketing contact. Other concerns included scams or fraud, cited by 79%, and data privacy, cited by 65%. The survey also found that 61% use a secondary email address instead of their primary one, while 55% said their phone number or email had appeared in a known data breach.

Many respondents also expressed regret about sharing their details in the past. Roughly 71% said they regretted giving their real phone number to businesses or online platforms.

The report said Americans keep the same phone number for an average of 12 years and the same email address for 14 years. It also reported that people who have kept a primary phone number for more than a decade receive 45% more spam texts, robocalls and scam attempts than those with newer numbers; long-held email addresses receive 88% more unwanted contact, according to the report.

Cloaked also reported differences by device type: Android users were more likely than iPhone users to say they avoid sharing real contact details because of privacy concerns, at 68% compared with 61%. Android users were also more likely to report receiving wrong-number calls or texts, at 41% versus 36%.

The findings suggest that requests for contact details may prompt some shoppers to use alternate or inaccurate information rather than share their primary accounts. For retailers, that can mean collecting less reliable customer data while risking greater distrust among consumers wary of spam and exposure.

Sources: WWD.