I came across this video: They Asked For My Name. I Said No.
She had to do a purchase online and used a :
- Private mail box
- Privacy.com to create a virtual card just for that purchase
- SimpleLogin to create an email alias
- Cloaked to get a virtual phone number
This all seemed a bit excessive to me, but I wonder in general how do privacy enthusiasts purchase things online from: a) Sites that they can “trust” b) Sites that they can’t “trust”
And what about offline? Do you guys use things like Google / Apple Wallet? Do you carry physical cards? Or do you not use cards at all and just pay by cash?
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I used to use Google Wallet, but I have switched to GrapheneOS so that no longer works, I need to substitute it to curve pay but I’m kinda considering maybe I don’t need it at all? Perhaps just carry the card with me, instead of adding yet another company that sees all of my purchases accepting all the downsides that this will give me. Or just use cash.
As far as online purchases go, honestly I don’t do anything special other than creating a disposable virtual card just for that purchase, which made me think maybe I’m exposing myself too much, especially on smaller sites that I can’t trust. That being said, I don’t really know what I would do to change that.
Thoughts?
Parcel lockers with a fake phone number and an email alias solve the delivery address problem. Then there’s payment methods but you need to figure it out yourself.
For in-store purchases, cash is king, and in stores that have self checkout without cash support, gift cards are a good option.