this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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It would be nice to be able to bring to light the price gouging that is taking place in Canada with regards to grocery stores.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

With the advent of e-ink price tags, it wouldn't be surprising to me if something similar goes on with the prices of generic and medium tier items.

We'd have to see if an API is available somewhere first.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Even without an API it should be possible, in theory, to just parse the data directly from their websites.

This also gives the grocery stores less of a leg to stand on in terms of legal or practical recourse. They chose to create a publicly browsable database of their prices; all you're doing is browsing it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Huh. Now you've got me wondering... Could you leave a device hidden in store that receives the IR signals that program the tags, capture that information, then parse it out later? You could literally log prices changes at the shelves, in real time.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't think they're IR. Something similar to wifi. Surely encrypted.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Looks like there are two varieties - IR or Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE).