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.

  • MinekPo1 [She/Her]@lemmygrad.ml
    3·
    1 year ago

    I don’t as there is a service called blik in my country which seems private enough and is way more hassle free to use. It generates one time use codes for payment and requires user confirmation for each payment. Not sure how private it is on the back end, but it pretty much gets rid of the same risks virtual credit cards target. It’s also pretty well supported, both by banks and payment processors.

    Again not sure how private it is on the back end, but, at least for me, its more user friendly than using a credit card so I cant be bothered.

    Edit: the privacy policy for both blik and their website (I think?) is 13 pages, 9 of which give a detailed description of how they use cookies. Also the privacy regulations here are quite strict and they actually follow them, so you can not opt into cookies with as much effort as it takes to opt in. It is also a service made by banks, so I feel its quite trust wordy.

    Also OP, if the banks web extention doesn’t require access to all websites, it probably won’t track you, at least more than your bank tracks you already.

    • rutrum@lm.paradisus.dayOPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Wow 2fa on credit card purchases is a brilliant idea. And yeah I should probably look a little closer at my bank’s extension and see if its really the threat I think it is.