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Is there are opportunity for a non-tracked credit card? Would it even be possible? I don't mean anonymous, I just mean "We promise not to share your data period

Is there are opportunity for a non-tracked credit card? Would it even be possible? I don't mean anonymous, I just mean "We promise not to share your data period, not even anonymized" but we still have your name and address and phone number on your account. But even if some company offered that all the retailers could still share their data with some aggregator which would effective work around your privacy oriented card not sharing data. I'd love not to be tracked and would switch cards immediately if they offered the same services I get now and offered zero tracking. I suspect I'm in the minority but maybe with the right PR blitz you could get regular people to switch. "Does your credit card spy on you? Do they sell all your purchase data to advertisers so they can target you with ads? Yes? Welcome to 'PrivacyCard'" or something Next YC batch?

HohPum1l 8y ago
> But even if some company offered that all the retailers could still share their data with some aggregator which would effective work around your privacy oriented card not sharing data. If you buy in a brick and mortar store the retailer would not have your address, only your card number. And a privacy-focusd CC company would allow you to generate new numbers for each transaction so the retailers can't use that to merge datasets.
- foepys 8y ago
  Funnily enough, Google Pay (and Apple Pay even earlier) is doing exactly that [1]. The merchant is only seeing a token that will be connected to the actual card number in the credit card network. Google is now closing the circle to get to know exactly what was bought - blowing all privacy advantages away. 1: https://support.google.com/pay/merchants/answer/6345242?hl=en https://support.google.com/pay/merchants/answer/6345242?hl=e...
  - basicplus2 8y ago
    And removing the oportunity for the retailer to collect info on who shops in their stores...
    - HohPum1l 8y ago
      An "opportunity" they never had with cash in the first place.
      - basicplus2 8y ago
        Yes but they do have the opportunity when customers pay with their credit card directly.. An untapped opportunity perhaps
byte1918 8y ago
I wouldn't mind paying a larger monthly/yearly fee if this was a thing.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  AMEX?
aembleton 8y ago
This card will have to work with Visa or Mastercard network, otherwise it won't be accepted in many stores. That is just two companies that Google has to approach to hoover up all of that data. Building a new card network akin to Visa would be a monumental task. You'd be better off lobbying for legislation.
mikekchar 8y ago
There are pre-paid "credit" cards in Japan (and I imagine other places as well). You can even get a Visa card. While they do have a special number range, you can usually use them in the same place you can use any other card. I can go down the convenience store and purchase one and then use the card online. The most that they can track me is to find the time and location of the convenience store I bought it at (as long as I pay cash). The only problem is that the total you can spend: ~$50 on the ones I've found, so not terribly useful. But it's at least proof of concept that they could do it if they wanted to. Japan is mostly (for the moment, anyway) a cash based society, so these kinds of things work. Payment cards are becoming more and more popular, where you load money on to them and then you can use them in stores. Most of them don't require that you register with them, but of course they all recommend it (and you can't take money off of a card without it being registered, presumably to reduce theft of the cards). I quite like the system, since I like privacy. Also much better than a debit card since I don't have to give access to my primary bank account to have a convenient payment system.

HohPum1l 8y ago

> But even if some company offered that all the retailers could still share their data with some aggregator which would effective work around your privacy oriented card not sharing data. If you buy in a brick and mortar store the retailer would not have your address, only your card number. And a privacy-focusd CC company would allow you to generate new numbers for each transaction so the retailers can't use that to merge datasets.

foepys 8y ago
Funnily enough, Google Pay (and Apple Pay even earlier) is doing exactly that [1]. The merchant is only seeing a token that will be connected to the actual card number in the credit card network. Google is now closing the circle to get to know exactly what was bought - blowing all privacy advantages away. 1: https://support.google.com/pay/merchants/answer/6345242?hl=en https://support.google.com/pay/merchants/answer/6345242?hl=e...
- basicplus2 8y ago
  And removing the oportunity for the retailer to collect info on who shops in their stores...
  - HohPum1l 8y ago
    An "opportunity" they never had with cash in the first place.
    - basicplus2 8y ago
      Yes but they do have the opportunity when customers pay with their credit card directly.. An untapped opportunity perhaps

byte1918 8y ago

I wouldn't mind paying a larger monthly/yearly fee if this was a thing.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
AMEX?

aembleton 8y ago

This card will have to work with Visa or Mastercard network, otherwise it won't be accepted in many stores. That is just two companies that Google has to approach to hoover up all of that data. Building a new card network akin to Visa would be a monumental task. You'd be better off lobbying for legislation.

mikekchar 8y ago

There are pre-paid "credit" cards in Japan (and I imagine other places as well). You can even get a Visa card. While they do have a special number range, you can usually use them in the same place you can use any other card. I can go down the convenience store and purchase one and then use the card online. The most that they can track me is to find the time and location of the convenience store I bought it at (as long as I pay cash). The only problem is that the total you can spend: ~$50 on the ones I've found, so not terribly useful. But it's at least proof of concept that they could do it if they wanted to. Japan is mostly (for the moment, anyway) a cash based society, so these kinds of things work. Payment cards are becoming more and more popular, where you load money on to them and then you can use them in stores. Most of them don't require that you register with them, but of course they all recommend it (and you can't take money off of a card without it being registered, presumably to reduce theft of the cards). I quite like the system, since I like privacy. Also much better than a debit card since I don't have to give access to my primary bank account to have a convenient payment system.