this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2024
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Privacy

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After reading such news I have an obvious question. Does anyone know a PayPal-like service, that allows to hide the destination of my transactions from Mastercard / bank, but with a good privacy policy? Or how else can I restrict the usage of my financial data by mastercard or bank?

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[–] sar1n 24 points 10 months ago

The eight companies in question are: Mastercard, Revionics, Bloomreach, JPMorgan Chase, Task Software, PROS, Accenture, and McKinsey & Co.

[–] bl4kers@lemmy.ml 12 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Honestly if you want real financial privacy, the best thing to use is {insert cryptocurrency that I'm heavily financially invested in}

[–] dgriffith@aussie.zone 7 points 10 months ago

You're right, I try to use {insert cryptocurrency that I'm heavily financially invested in} for my every day transactions as much as possible, you should too, and you can get amazing returns as well! It's win-win nobody loses ❤️

[–] tuhriel 7 points 10 months ago

Hey, hey...pssst you forgot to update the template to the your current crypto!

[–] pound_heap@lemm.ee 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There is Privacy.com that gives you virtual cards to use for purchases. Money go from your bank account to them. Destination is visible on payment description still, but it may fool bank's algorithm. Or you can get paid plan from Privacy.com and mask destination completely.

[–] sem@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That is what I need! Unfortunately, it is for US only... Is there, maybe, something similar in European region?

[–] pound_heap@lemm.ee 5 points 10 months ago

Oh, sorry, I've assumed that you are in US since you posted an article about FTC.

I don't know if there is a similar service in Europe. I think you could get a virtual card linked to a crypto wallet, but this obviously comes with downsides

[–] kylian0087@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Best way to hide transactions is with crypto. And namely Monero. Not exactly PayPal like but Monero is the most private.

[–] sem@lemmy.ml 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Unfortunately there are a very small amount of places when I can pay with crypto... I do not want to face also questions from AML officers. I'm not a journalist in the dangerous country or political activist, so Monero looks like an overhead for me.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Monero is for everybody. The most common things I purchase on a monthly basis in Monero are Domino's Pizza and groceries. And as far as I'm aware, neither of those things are illegal. Monero is money, just like a $100 bill is money (currently). It is perfectly legal to hold and use Monero.

[–] umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip -2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

No, but it's very easy to buy a Domino's gift card with Monero and use that.

[–] kylian0087@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Where I live they used to accept BTC. Not Monero unfortunately.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Well, there are plenty of places that do accept Monero. Take a look at https://monerica.com and https://xmrbazaar.com which is a small but growing marketplace to buy and sell anything you wish (excluding illegal goods) .

[–] kylian0087@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 10 months ago

Oh that's interesting! Thanks for letting me know.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Until you do your taxes. The government hates crypto.

[–] Hugin@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Taxes in the US for crypto are easy. I sold some crypto I had and just put the amount in the other income box and paid the tax.

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 1 points 10 months ago

Besides the other user's recommendation, have a look at coincards. Haven't used them yet, but they have gift cards for a lot of things, online and physical brands too.

[–] Mango@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

No it's not. Crypto is very specifically not that. It's an open ledger.

[–] makeasnek@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is not accurate. Monero offers a very high degree of privacy and anonymity. So does Bitcoin lightning, to a lesser degree. Lightning transactions don't go on chain and are known only to: sender, recipient, and intermediate nodes, if any.

[–] Mango@lemmy.world -2 points 10 months ago

Nice try FBI.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 10 months ago

We are in the end game

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 0 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, Monero is absolutely your best bet for financial privacy in the digital world. There's nothing that compares.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think Taler has a lot of promise. It protects the buyer but keeps a record of the money received. This helps prevent tax evasion.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip -3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

helps prevent theft evasion.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 3 points 10 months ago

No it doesn't

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Actually, cash compares, doesn't it? Not online of course, but otherwise

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 2 points 10 months ago

Yes and no cash for the physical world does indeed protect your privacy properly. However, you do run into the issue that you have to trust. Your government's currency, which at least for me, I do not. So Monero is also a way of getting out from the government currency that I believe is being debased and devalued.