Re: [privacy] preserve your privacy and avoid reliance on flawed systems (was: Dispute Credit Card Charges at Your Peril)

[Drsolly <drsollyp () drsolly com>]

On Wed, 14 Jun 2006, coderman wrote:

> On 6/14/06, Dude VanWinkle <dudevanwinkle () gmail com> wrote:
> > ...
> > Guess I just dont like any kind of profiling tho.. fuckin bastards
> > judging me, who do they think they are?  ;-)
>
> there is a simple solution to mitigate much of this:
> - only use pre-paid credit cards attached to fictitious identities.
> - don't use customer loyalty programs (grocery chain cards, etc).
> - don't use debit cards anywhere except ATM's.
> - use cash anywhere and as often as you can.
>
> i follow these guidelines and while it is indeed inconvenient i've
> never had to deal with identity theft, i've never had to worry about
> fraudulent charges, and i've never had to wonder how many people have
> views into my purchasing habits.
>
> i also don't have a cell phone, but that's a different kind of
> profiling by a different kind of agency. :)
>
> i'm not a luddite (i use computers and other technology extensively
> for professional and social purposes (even met my wife on
> irc-2.mit.edu)) but i have a severe aversion to fundamentally flawed
> systems which are unreliable and an invasion of my privacy.
>
> i prefer to spend my time working on solutions that are trustworthy
> and reliable which could supplant these flawed infrastructures (to
> some degree) rather than contributing to their ongoing existence.
>
> has anyone else simply 'checked out' from these systems, finding them
> not worth the hassle?  i've avoided all of the above since mid 2000
> and haven't looked back since.
 
Me too, but for different reasons.

My wife just abandoned customer loyalty cards because they are now credit
cards, and use chip and pin, and she has to A) either use the same pin
everywhere (bad idea) or B)  she has to write them down (not too good) or
C) remember them all. I never did use them.

I don't use ATM's, because I can't imagine how they could possibly work.

I use cash except over the internet, in which case I use a credit card, 
because I can always repudiate any transaction, and the merchant is 
helpless. And I read my cc statement each month. I don't use debit cards 
because you don't get that protection.

I don't use mobile phones, because I really don't like the idea that 
anyone can interrupt what I'm doing wherever I am and demand to talk to me 
(I also rarely give out my landline phone number).

And ... see if you can beat this ... I don't wear a wristwatch, and I'll 
leave you to make wild inaccurate guesses about why.


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