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And while we’re at it, can we ban companies from sending me marketing email just because I used my credit card to buy something from you in your store. I feel

And while we’re at it, can we ban companies from sending me marketing email just because I used my credit card to buy something from you in your store. I feel like it’s square that’s driving this. I’ll buy a coffee or something small and immediately be signed up for that businesses email list. No consent, no option not to be emailed. Just automatically marketed to bc I swiped my card at their checkout.

hackernewds 4y ago
As someone (biased) who has worked at Square, it is not Square (now Block) driving this. They are too distracted with cross-subsidizing Bitcoin daydreams to be focused on benefitting SMBs.
- DangitBobby 4y ago
  How sure are you? I was pretty sure square was the responsible party when I got spam emails from a coffee shop as well.
- Veen 4y ago
  I wonder how much they paid a branding agency to come up that ingenious rebranding.
mightybyte 4y ago
Recently I've kind of felt like it's Twilio & similar that are driving this, because they have made tools for this kind of mass spamming of texts and calls widely accessible. I'm sure it's a very complex web of factors, incentives, etc. The question is are there any small and focused areas that regulators can target to clamp down on the problem. And the mass call/texting providers like Twilio seem like a promising possibility to me. I get so many spam calls and texts that it has basically rendered the traditional phone system completely useless.
JohnFen 4y ago
> I feel like it’s square that’s driving this. Square is who got me to stop using credit cards to buy things. I bought something at a Square terminal, and opted for no receipt. The next time I bought something at a square terminal, I noticed that they had my email address prefilled in their "email my receipt" selection. I'd never given them my email address. I was pissed. What followed was a week of harassing Square to try to get them to delete their records about me. They eventually said they did, but I don't know if they were truthful because I stopped using my card, so couldn't check.

hackernewds 4y ago

As someone (biased) who has worked at Square, it is not Square (now Block) driving this. They are too distracted with cross-subsidizing Bitcoin daydreams to be focused on benefitting SMBs.

DangitBobby 4y ago
How sure are you? I was pretty sure square was the responsible party when I got spam emails from a coffee shop as well.
Veen 4y ago
I wonder how much they paid a branding agency to come up that ingenious rebranding.

mightybyte 4y ago

Recently I've kind of felt like it's Twilio & similar that are driving this, because they have made tools for this kind of mass spamming of texts and calls widely accessible. I'm sure it's a very complex web of factors, incentives, etc. The question is are there any small and focused areas that regulators can target to clamp down on the problem. And the mass call/texting providers like Twilio seem like a promising possibility to me. I get so many spam calls and texts that it has basically rendered the traditional phone system completely useless.

JohnFen 4y ago

> I feel like it’s square that’s driving this. Square is who got me to stop using credit cards to buy things. I bought something at a Square terminal, and opted for no receipt. The next time I bought something at a square terminal, I noticed that they had my email address prefilled in their "email my receipt" selection. I'd never given them my email address. I was pissed. What followed was a week of harassing Square to try to get them to delete their records about me. They eventually said they did, but I don't know if they were truthful because I stopped using my card, so couldn't check.