Politech mailing list archives
FC: Anonymous services on the upswing, sparked by credit concerns
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 10:34:35 -0500
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,42408,00.html Prepaid Phones and Privacy, Too by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com) 2:00 a.m. Mar. 14, 2001 PST For privacy advocates who have spent years agitating for far-reaching data collection legislation, the last few months have resembled an ongoing bad dream. A Republican lives in the White House, Democrats in Congress are in disarray, and business groups are emboldened. Even the Federal Trade Commission, which once recommended more privacy laws, will be headed by a conservative by the end of this year. But while public attention has focused on Washington, D.C., a quiet revolution has taken place in the marketplace. Spurred not by legislative fiat but by competitive pressures, companies have begun to offer anonymous services -- in part to lure customers who have poor credit or who are immigrants without any credit history. On Tuesday, San Francisco startup Telespree said it will sell sub-$30 disposable cell phones later this year. The company says it believes the market for low-cost phones with prepaid service plans will be at least as large as today's market for disposable cameras. [...] One answer might be a new American Express card sold in 7-Eleven stores that lets shoppers avoid such potential privacy invasions by remaining anonymous. It comes in two largely identical flavors: The 7-Eleven Internet Shopping Card -- introduced last month -- and the 7-Eleven Gift Card. Both are from American Express. A customer who walks into a participating 7-Eleven store can hand over cash for an anonymous prepaid charge card with up to $1,000 stored on it, if he or she is willing to pay a 4 percent service fee. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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- FC: Anonymous services on the upswing, sparked by credit concerns Declan McCullagh (Mar 14)