this post was submitted on 29 May 2024
292 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy Guides

16826 readers
3 users here now

In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.


You can subscribe to this community from any Kbin or Lemmy instance:

Learn more...


Check out our website at privacyguides.org before asking your questions here. We've tried answering the common questions and recommendations there!

Want to get involved? The website is open-source on GitHub, and your help would be appreciated!


This community is the "official" Privacy Guides community on Lemmy, which can be verified here. Other "Privacy Guides" communities on other Lemmy servers are not moderated by this team or associated with the website.


Moderation Rules:

  1. We prefer posting about open-source software whenever possible.
  2. This is not the place for self-promotion if you are not listed on privacyguides.org. If you want to be listed, make a suggestion on our forum first.
  3. No soliciting engagement: Don't ask for upvotes, follows, etc.
  4. Surveys, Fundraising, and Petitions must be pre-approved by the mod team.
  5. Be civil, no violence, hate speech. Assume people here are posting in good faith.
  6. Don't repost topics which have already been covered here.
  7. News posts must be related to privacy and security, and your post title must match the article headline exactly. Do not editorialize titles, you can post your opinions in the post body or a comment.
  8. Memes/images/video posts that could be summarized as text explanations should not be posted. Infographics and conference talks from reputable sources are acceptable.
  9. No help vampires: This is not a tech support subreddit, don't abuse our community's willingness to help. Questions related to privacy, security or privacy/security related software and their configurations are acceptable.
  10. No misinformation: Extraordinary claims must be matched with evidence.
  11. Do not post about VPNs or cryptocurrencies which are not listed on privacyguides.org. See Rule 2 for info on adding new recommendations to the website.
  12. General guides or software lists are not permitted. Original sources and research about specific topics are allowed as long as they are high quality and factual. We are not providing a platform for poorly-vetted, out-of-date or conflicting recommendations.

Additional Resources:

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

“If you’re someone who’s buying products on the web, we know who is buying the products where, and we can leverage the data,” Grether said in a statement to the WSJ. He also said that PayPal will receive shopping data from customers using its credit card in stores.

A PayPal spokesperson tells the WSJ that the company will collect data from customers by default while also offering the ability to opt out.

PayPal is far from the only company to sell ads based on transaction information. In January, a study from Consumer Reports revealed that Facebook gets information about users from thousands of different companies, including retailers like Walmart and Amazon. JPMorgan Chase also announced that it’s creating an ad network based on customer spending data, while Visa is making similar moves. Of course, this doesn’t include the tracking shopping apps do to log your offline purchases, too.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 44 points 5 months ago (2 children)

It should be completely illegal for these companies to just completely fucking change the nature of our agreements decades later. This is bullshit.

[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 11 points 5 months ago

It is illegal in Europe, but not widely enforced.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (10 children)

It wouldn't have to be illegal if we transitioned to a decentralized and anonymous payments system that doesn't involve the likes of PayPal

[–] ChallengeApathy@infosec.pub 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yeah that would work if you weren't forced through a billion KYC hoops just to buy some BTC or XMR.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (6 children)

It's annoying but you have to do that kind of stuff to open a bank account or get a new credit card too

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 2 points 5 months ago

GNU Taler could replace Paypal, we can only hope.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] bluetardis@sh.itjust.works 30 points 5 months ago

In the beginning PayPal was needed due to credit cards not working for international payments. Now not so much. They are giving you a reason to leave.

[–] boogetyboo@aussie.zone 28 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I'm so over this. So exasperated by it. Every company in a scramble to the bottom. Meanwhile my country's reporting a downturn in FOOD spending because people are fucking poor.

We're being bombarded with ads at every turn, having our data sold off, stolen, or repurposed for LLMs... Meanwhile the customer experience gets worse and worse.

I work in digital ux and honestly, I just want to unplug and go live in a cave.

[–] bfg9k@lemmy.world 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Been interested in computers since childhood, and have been working in the IT industry for over a decade now.

I would love to take a sledgehammer to all of my stupid customer's servers and go live on a farm. The future we made for ourselves is fucking retarded.

[–] laughterlaughter@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

We? No. I didn't participate in the building of this future.

[–] Pantoffel@feddit.de 6 points 5 months ago

The sad thing is that even if you really wanted to go off the grid, live in a cave, and rediscover the fire, you wouldn't be allowed to.

[–] 800XL@lemmy.world 16 points 5 months ago (5 children)

Microcenter shares purchases with Facebook. Even when you shop at the store.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] FarFarAway@startrek.website 11 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Pretty sure my local bank has been doing this for a few years now. I thought I was losing it, but apparently it's a thing.

Only thing that pisses me off (besides the obvious fact that its my bank doing this, and i dont want ads) is that I get ads for the same stuff I just bought. If your supposed to be some all knowing awesome algorithm that understands me better than I understand myself, send me ads for stuff I might actually want, but haven't bought yet. Not, literally, the same thing I bought two days ago, and have no need for, for at least another month. Idiots.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Sarmyth@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago

I assume most things advertised in apps and websites to be low quality or scammy. I hate advertising enough that I actually avoid any large company that throws ads in my face because I assume they can no longer rely on their reputations and arr no longer the value they were when they rose to prominence.

[–] gnygnygny@lemm.ee 8 points 5 months ago (3 children)

PayPal's hegemony must end.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] LucidBoi@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 5 months ago (7 children)

Alternatives? Except for not using services that require PayPal.

[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 4 points 5 months ago (7 children)

In America they have VenMo and CashApp, in Europe, it feels like PayPal have a monopoly.

[–] QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world 14 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Pretty sure Venmo is owned by PayPal.

[–] ares35@kbin.social 6 points 5 months ago

correct; acquired in 2013.

[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 5 points 5 months ago

Ha! They really need competition.

[–] lemmytellyousomething@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 5 months ago (5 children)

Paypal was the fast way to transfer money until 2024 in the EU.

But the EU has recently made it mandatory for banks to offer free SEPA instant payments. 15 seconds to send up to 100k as far as I know.

BTW: Look at the share price and how it went down and did not recover...

[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'd never heard of SEPA. That's actually quite cool. Does that mean no more seeing payments pop up six days later.

[–] lemmytellyousomething@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

SEPA is actually what we had so far. That is how the employer sends you the money. That's how you pay rent. That's how you pay off debts. That's how your insurances take money from you.

SEPA instant payments is what's new and it allows to transfer money to someone in under 15 seconds. It existed for a few years, but usually cost money and was not even available for all banks. That's changing now. Step 1 is making it free and force all banks to offer it. Step 2 will be replacing the old, slower system with it completely.

[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 2 points 5 months ago

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain. It's posts like this why I enjoy Lemmy so much. Thanks for educating me.

[–] veroxii@aussie.zone 2 points 5 months ago

Same happened in Australia. A few years back they brought in osko payid. Which means you can send money from your bank directly to others via their email or phone number. And it arrives in seconds.

Also free.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] LucidBoi@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

What about privacy-respecting alternatives?

[–] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 2 points 5 months ago

The closest you will get is a prepaid credit card. The reason why PayPal are so big is because they're universally accepted.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 4 points 5 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


The company’s new advertising business will encompass purchase information and customer spending habits from PayPal and its sister app Venmo, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A PayPal spokesperson tells the WSJ that the company will collect data from customers by default while also offering the ability to opt out.

When asked about the kinds of data PayPal will collect, spokesperson Taylor Watson told The Verge that the advertising platform is still in “early stages” and that the company doesn’t have “definitive answers” yet.

“Alongside the advertising business, PayPal will build transparent, easy-to-use privacy controls,” Watson says.

In January, a study from Consumer Reports revealed that Facebook gets information about users from thousands of different companies, including retailers like Walmart and Amazon.

JPMorgan Chase also announced that it’s creating an ad network based on customer spending data, while Visa is making similar moves.


The original article contains 325 words, the summary contains 143 words. Saved 56%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] archchan@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 months ago

I'm so fucking tired...

Guess I'll delete my PayPal account.

[–] newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

As far as data goes, purchase data is one I can live with businesses doing this kinda stuff with. I'm using their platform to complete the sale, so it'd make sense to me they'd have data of that sale. And it makes sense to me that a business would leverage that data in ways to benefit themselves.

Someone tell me if I should be concerned, but this seems like what everyone else has done as long as they've been able to do it.

[–] hikaru755@feddit.de 11 points 5 months ago

And it makes sense to me that a business would leverage that data in ways to benefit themselves.

Big fat nope on that one. This is exactly what the GDPR is about. I'm giving you my data for a specific purpose, and unless I tell you otherwise, you have no fucking business using that data for anything else. Gonna be interesting to see how this one plays out in the EU.

[–] applepie@kbin.social 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Thw issue is aggregation of all of the data into mega datasets that are used to fix prices.

A lot of the inflation we are seeing recently is literally result of these dataset being compiled.

They know how much you make, how much you save etc so they can determine how much they can extract from you esp once you add behavioral data. We are all profiled and they know what you like.

Although fast food seems to finally hit a wall on that...

[–] variants@possumpat.io 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The worst part is that it doesn't just affect you, it'll make it much easier to profile new users going forward so future generations will be screwed over even more. Imagine your insurance prices or phone bill being calculated by your max tolerance you would pay before searching for a different provider

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] gravitywell@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

I'm kinda surprised to hear they didn't already do that... I guess I just assumed that was the entire point of them acquiring "honey" and had been doing it since at least that point.

[–] MonkderDritte@feddit.de 3 points 5 months ago

Opt out to payment data sharing is pretty illegal in EU.

[–] ChallengeApathy@infosec.pub 3 points 5 months ago

I really wish there were another option. The only other option is to give raw credit card data to vendors, which is horrible for security given all the data breaches that happen. And no, card masking services like Privacy.com aren't an option when they're requiring your SSN (which is a load of BS).

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 months ago

Will? That's an evil company, surely slightly evil targeted ads have been going on for awhile.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

More power to em. I stopped using them years ago.

load more comments
view more: next ›