4 ms·

It's like you need to keep a running diary of every single service you've used / every single place you've been so when something happens like this, maybe you c

It's like you need to keep a running diary of every single service you've used / every single place you've been so when something happens like this, maybe you can find out if you actually used that service or visited that place. I think I stayed at a Starwood 2 years ago in PA? But I don't remember if it was a Starwood or some other Marriott brand.

qrbLPHiKpiux 8y ago
I have a domain I use with Fastmail that when I use a service or website, if I need to register an email it's always: service or websiteName @ mydomain.com Doesn't cover all, but at least it's something...
- noja 8y ago
  Combined with a unique string, or just the bare name?
  - qrbLPHiKpiux 8y ago
    The one I have for here is hn@
  - kaybe 8y ago
    For not-so-important things, I can recommend mailhero: https://mailhero.io/ https://mailhero.io/ It's free, just give it a try!
- guitarbill 8y ago
  This was one of the unexpected perks of moving to FastMail, which has been an awesome experience so far. I'd highly recommend it. You can do something similar in Gmail with `name+label@gmail.com`, but a shocking number of sites ban valid characters from email addresses (intentionally?). That and a lot of clients have super annoying alias settings, so replying to such an email is a royal pain.
laumars 8y ago
This is why I do my upmost to avoid entering payment details on as many sites as I can. Unique passwords (and usernames too if that is an option) are easy to manage via lastpass et al. Unique email addresses are harder but you might be able to fudge something using the "+ label" feature. But the real challenge is payment details. I'd be quite happy using Paypal everywhere if that were possible as then I'd only need to worry about Paypal getting hacked. What I really don't like is shopping sites that require me to enter my payment details (or worse: require me to save payment details). I avoid those places in almost all cases.
- noxToken 8y ago
  > What I really don't like is shopping sites that require me to enter my payment details Would this soften the blow if they used an indirect payment system like PayPal instead of directly entering card information? Otherwise how else could you shop online? > (or worse: require me to save payment details) Sites actually do this?
  - laumars 8y ago
    > Would this soften the blow if they used an indirect payment system like PayPal instead of directly entering card information? Otherwise how else could you shop online? I did say "I'd be quite happy using Paypal everywhere if that were possible". Or am I not understanding your question? > Sites actually do this? It used to be common years ago but few seem to these days, thankfully. I have still encountered the odd site that does though (or at least not made it clear that they do not store those details).
- e1g 8y ago
  I use privacy.com to generate a unique credit cards for most purchases/services. These cards are by restricted to the same merchant, and can have a max limit added. It's the same idea as generating unique passwords with 1Password et al.
  - laumars 8y ago
    That's genius. Thank you for the recommendation.
matwood 8y ago
Does it really matter at this point? It's safe to assume all your data has been compromised. Given the state level IRS hacks that have happened in quite a few states, the OPM hack, and the hundreds of business hacks no one is safe anymore. Everyone should operate under the assumption their information is known and do things like freeze their credit and keep an eye out for the data being used.
- lsiunsuex 8y ago
  Sure it does. Just because they "apologized" doesn't mean it should be acceptable or dismissable. These breaches keep happening and these companies continue to be not held accountable or not punished in anyway, except for bad press for 2-3 days until everyone forgets and it's on to the next security breach. You want me to shop at your store or use your services, you want me to join your mailing list or give you my address, CC and phone # - I expect at the least, for that information to be kept secure.
  - matwood 8y ago
    I agree companies should be punished and held accountable. As an aside, how does one go about punishing the government though? The point I was making is that everyone should assume their data is already compromised. The weakest link will always be an issue, and in many cases it is one you cannot control - the government.
    - lsiunsuex 8y ago
      Us in the IT field - programmers, sys admins, whatever - yes, we probably should assume our data is insecure because we're in it. We see these breaches here on HN and we know what to expect when they happen. As everyone always says about these types of things. We are not the target market so to speak. Joe user doesn't know to read HN and gets their news from the TV IF they happened to be watching when it was covered. I'm agreeing with you. I know we should know to be careful. But it's still not acceptable.
- pavel_lishin 8y ago
gammateam 8y ago
www.haveibeenpwned.com will help you with that also using unique passwords as well as aliasing your email address such as gammateam+starwood@gmail.com helps you isolate which breach comes from where. the spam emails you get will start having the alias on it

qrbLPHiKpiux 8y ago

I have a domain I use with Fastmail that when I use a service or website, if I need to register an email it's always: service or websiteName @ mydomain.com Doesn't cover all, but at least it's something...

noja 8y ago
Combined with a unique string, or just the bare name?
- qrbLPHiKpiux 8y ago
  The one I have for here is hn@
- kaybe 8y ago
  For not-so-important things, I can recommend mailhero: https://mailhero.io/ https://mailhero.io/ It's free, just give it a try!
guitarbill 8y ago
This was one of the unexpected perks of moving to FastMail, which has been an awesome experience so far. I'd highly recommend it. You can do something similar in Gmail with `name+label@gmail.com`, but a shocking number of sites ban valid characters from email addresses (intentionally?). That and a lot of clients have super annoying alias settings, so replying to such an email is a royal pain.

laumars 8y ago

This is why I do my upmost to avoid entering payment details on as many sites as I can. Unique passwords (and usernames too if that is an option) are easy to manage via lastpass et al. Unique email addresses are harder but you might be able to fudge something using the "+ label" feature. But the real challenge is payment details. I'd be quite happy using Paypal everywhere if that were possible as then I'd only need to worry about Paypal getting hacked. What I really don't like is shopping sites that require me to enter my payment details (or worse: require me to save payment details). I avoid those places in almost all cases.

noxToken 8y ago
> What I really don't like is shopping sites that require me to enter my payment details Would this soften the blow if they used an indirect payment system like PayPal instead of directly entering card information? Otherwise how else could you shop online? > (or worse: require me to save payment details) Sites actually do this?
- laumars 8y ago
  > Would this soften the blow if they used an indirect payment system like PayPal instead of directly entering card information? Otherwise how else could you shop online? I did say "I'd be quite happy using Paypal everywhere if that were possible". Or am I not understanding your question? > Sites actually do this? It used to be common years ago but few seem to these days, thankfully. I have still encountered the odd site that does though (or at least not made it clear that they do not store those details).
e1g 8y ago
I use privacy.com to generate a unique credit cards for most purchases/services. These cards are by restricted to the same merchant, and can have a max limit added. It's the same idea as generating unique passwords with 1Password et al.
- laumars 8y ago
  That's genius. Thank you for the recommendation.

matwood 8y ago

Does it really matter at this point? It's safe to assume all your data has been compromised. Given the state level IRS hacks that have happened in quite a few states, the OPM hack, and the hundreds of business hacks no one is safe anymore. Everyone should operate under the assumption their information is known and do things like freeze their credit and keep an eye out for the data being used.

lsiunsuex 8y ago
Sure it does. Just because they "apologized" doesn't mean it should be acceptable or dismissable. These breaches keep happening and these companies continue to be not held accountable or not punished in anyway, except for bad press for 2-3 days until everyone forgets and it's on to the next security breach. You want me to shop at your store or use your services, you want me to join your mailing list or give you my address, CC and phone # - I expect at the least, for that information to be kept secure.
- matwood 8y ago
  I agree companies should be punished and held accountable. As an aside, how does one go about punishing the government though? The point I was making is that everyone should assume their data is already compromised. The weakest link will always be an issue, and in many cases it is one you cannot control - the government.
  - lsiunsuex 8y ago
    Us in the IT field - programmers, sys admins, whatever - yes, we probably should assume our data is insecure because we're in it. We see these breaches here on HN and we know what to expect when they happen. As everyone always says about these types of things. We are not the target market so to speak. Joe user doesn't know to read HN and gets their news from the TV IF they happened to be watching when it was covered. I'm agreeing with you. I know we should know to be careful. But it's still not acceptable.
pavel_lishin 8y ago

gammateam 8y ago

www.haveibeenpwned.com will help you with that also using unique passwords as well as aliasing your email address such as gammateam+starwood@gmail.com helps you isolate which breach comes from where. the spam emails you get will start having the alias on it