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I'm interested in learning if there are alternative credit cards available that do not track/resell your purchase history. [1] To me, that seems like a major a

I'm interested in learning if there are alternative credit cards available that do not track/resell your purchase history. [1] To me, that seems like a major aspect of surveillance economy which can't be easily disrupted by something like Ad Nauseam or pi-hole. [1] https://www.fastcompany.com/90490923/credit-card-companies-are-tracking-shoppers-like-never-before-inside-the-next-phase-of-surveillance-capitalism https://www.fastcompany.com/90490923/credit-card-companies-a...

mikece 6y ago
You can buy prepaid debit cards in cash and load them with up to $500 at almost any Walmart (and probably a lot of other locations). I like the OneVanilla prepaid debit cards because I can use them online (but only with US-based vendors -- no international transactions) and put anything I want (such as "Hacker News") as the cardholder name. Another great alternative is privacy.com which allows you to create anonymous credit cards (your bank is then debited). While the vendors won't know who you are privacy.com certainly does and they use Plaid on the back end so they likely know as well. VISA just tried to buy Plaid; someone eventually will acquire them (maybe Google?) so keeping your financial info private via privacy.com might not be something that works long-term.
- astuyvenberg 6y ago
  That's a good point! And Privacy.com does offer a product that lets you generate temporary credit cards for this type of thing, which seems like a more elegant solution.
  - mikece 6y ago
    Sorry -- was editing my comment to include Privacy.com while you were replying!
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
reaperducer 6y ago
if there are alternative credit cards available that do not track/resell your purchase history Apple Card is a start: https://www.goldmansachs.com/privacy-and-cookies/Apple_Card_Privacy_Policy.pdf https://www.goldmansachs.com/privacy-and-cookies/Apple_Card_... "The types of personal information Goldman Sachs Bank USA collects and shares depend on the product or service you have with us. This information can include: Social Security number and account balances account transactions and purchase history transaction history and payment history For Goldman Sachs Bank USA's marketing purposes: to offer our other products and services to you Does Goldman Sachs Bank USA share? No For joint marketing with other financial companies Does Goldman Sachs Bank USA share? No For Goldman Sachs Bank USA's affiliates to market to you Does Goldman Sachs Bank USA share? No For nonaffiliates to market to you Does Goldman Sachs Bank USA share? No"
- astuyvenberg 6y ago
  Thank you for answering my question! I wasn't aware that Apple had a credit card.
  - reaperducer 6y ago
    I think it's U.S. only right now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Card https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Card
  - smoldesu 6y ago
    I'd be wary of it if I were you. Just last week I heard some horror stories about people being locked out of their AppleID after missing a payment.
    - axolttl88 6y ago
      While both AppleCard and AppleID were involved in the story, the situation wasn’t exactly that. Apple issued this statement in response: “We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience we may have caused for this customer. The issue in question involved a restriction on the customer’s Apple ID that disabled App Store and iTunes purchases and subscription services, excluding iCloud. Apple provided an instant credit for the purchase of a new MacBook Pro, and as part of that agreement, the customer was to return their current unit to us. No matter what payment method was used, the ability to transact on the associated Apple ID was disabled because Apple could not collect funds. This is entirely unrelated to Apple Card.” https://9to5mac.com/2021/03/03/apple-card-apple-id-unrelated/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/03/03/apple-card-apple-id-unrelated...
nobody9999 6y ago
>I'm interested in learning if there are alternative credit cards available that do not track/resell your purchase history. While they certainly do track many things (I was an employee for several years), American Express does not provide information to credit reporting agencies (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian). While that doesn't help with more mundane tracking (although you could buy Amex gift cards for cash, but that would be the same for any other gift cards), it does impact some of the more insidious tracking that's been going on for decades.
Nasrudith 6y ago
Isn't it illegal for a financial institution/money transfer organization to not track your purchase history from AML(anti-money laundering) reasons alone? I would imagine just from the sheer exploitability. Actually selling your data (as opposed to selling a derivative which is lazily conflated) they could manage to abstain from. The other party could also sell their transaction data which happens to contain you (although retailers tend to be cagey about what sells and keep their use internal they are infamously one of the things sold upon bankruptcy by their debtholder heirs).

mikece 6y ago

You can buy prepaid debit cards in cash and load them with up to $500 at almost any Walmart (and probably a lot of other locations). I like the OneVanilla prepaid debit cards because I can use them online (but only with US-based vendors -- no international transactions) and put anything I want (such as "Hacker News") as the cardholder name. Another great alternative is privacy.com which allows you to create anonymous credit cards (your bank is then debited). While the vendors won't know who you are privacy.com certainly does and they use Plaid on the back end so they likely know as well. VISA just tried to buy Plaid; someone eventually will acquire them (maybe Google?) so keeping your financial info private via privacy.com might not be something that works long-term.

astuyvenberg 6y ago
That's a good point! And Privacy.com does offer a product that lets you generate temporary credit cards for this type of thing, which seems like a more elegant solution.
- mikece 6y ago
  Sorry -- was editing my comment to include Privacy.com while you were replying!

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

reaperducer 6y ago

if there are alternative credit cards available that do not track/resell your purchase history Apple Card is a start: https://www.goldmansachs.com/privacy-and-cookies/Apple_Card_Privacy_Policy.pdf https://www.goldmansachs.com/privacy-and-cookies/Apple_Card_... "The types of personal information Goldman Sachs Bank USA collects and shares depend on the product or service you have with us. This information can include: Social Security number and account balances account transactions and purchase history transaction history and payment history For Goldman Sachs Bank USA's marketing purposes: to offer our other products and services to you Does Goldman Sachs Bank USA share? No For joint marketing with other financial companies Does Goldman Sachs Bank USA share? No For Goldman Sachs Bank USA's affiliates to market to you Does Goldman Sachs Bank USA share? No For nonaffiliates to market to you Does Goldman Sachs Bank USA share? No"

astuyvenberg 6y ago
Thank you for answering my question! I wasn't aware that Apple had a credit card.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  I think it's U.S. only right now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Card https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Card
- smoldesu 6y ago
  I'd be wary of it if I were you. Just last week I heard some horror stories about people being locked out of their AppleID after missing a payment.
  - axolttl88 6y ago
    While both AppleCard and AppleID were involved in the story, the situation wasn’t exactly that. Apple issued this statement in response: “We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience we may have caused for this customer. The issue in question involved a restriction on the customer’s Apple ID that disabled App Store and iTunes purchases and subscription services, excluding iCloud. Apple provided an instant credit for the purchase of a new MacBook Pro, and as part of that agreement, the customer was to return their current unit to us. No matter what payment method was used, the ability to transact on the associated Apple ID was disabled because Apple could not collect funds. This is entirely unrelated to Apple Card.” https://9to5mac.com/2021/03/03/apple-card-apple-id-unrelated/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/03/03/apple-card-apple-id-unrelated...

nobody9999 6y ago

>I'm interested in learning if there are alternative credit cards available that do not track/resell your purchase history. While they certainly do track many things (I was an employee for several years), American Express does not provide information to credit reporting agencies (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian). While that doesn't help with more mundane tracking (although you could buy Amex gift cards for cash, but that would be the same for any other gift cards), it does impact some of the more insidious tracking that's been going on for decades.

Nasrudith 6y ago

Isn't it illegal for a financial institution/money transfer organization to not track your purchase history from AML(anti-money laundering) reasons alone? I would imagine just from the sheer exploitability. Actually selling your data (as opposed to selling a derivative which is lazily conflated) they could manage to abstain from. The other party could also sell their transaction data which happens to contain you (although retailers tend to be cagey about what sells and keep their use internal they are infamously one of the things sold upon bankruptcy by their debtholder heirs).