Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

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Do you use virtual credit cards? (lm.paradisus.day)

submitted 1 year ago by rutrum@lm.paradisus.day to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

37 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I came across privacy.com, a service that generates virtual credit cards, like aliases for your real credit card that can be paused or discarded at any moment.

My own credit card company has this feature. But it requires a browser plugin that so obviously is there to track my spending habits, so I've not wanted to consider it. Privacy.com looks like a great alternative.

But is it even worth it? It may be a hastle, but I can also cancel my actual credit card at any moment and they will send me a new number immediately and a card a few days later. From a privacy prospective, how much can a company use my credit card credentials to track me? Maybe a third-party virtual card provider even masks my own purchases so not even my credit card company knows? Not sure about that one.

Please share if you use one, who its with, and if its worth it.

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[+] Nawor3565@lemmy.blahaj.zone -10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How do you think they can provide their service free of charge? It's because you are the product, and they likely track your own spending habits. However, I still use them occasionally if I ever want to sign up for a free trial or something similar, because you can put an all-time limit on each card. If my bank offered that feature though, I would just use it instead because my bank (a local credit union) would never track my data.

[–] HerderHilton@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Pretty sure they make money by collecting credit card fees. You are essentially giving up points/rewards in exchange for an unlimited supply credit cards which, as you mentioned, has a valid use in certain situations.

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 1 year ago

Yep.

How does Privacy make money?

Privacy, like other card companies, collects transaction fees called interchange from merchants. We don't, and will never, sell our customers' data.