I’ve been thinking about which is the better way to shop to maintain privacy. The way I see it there are pros and cons to each but I can’t decide which is ultimately better (and of course it depends on threat model and who you’re trying to hide from)
Irl
Pro
- Retailer doesn’t need your address/phone number/email address to complete a transaction
- If you pay with cash, your bank doesn’t have details of what you bought and can’t sell it to data brokers
Con
- Most/all stores have security cameras (often with facial recognition). You can mitigate it with masks or other coverings but I’ve seen a few stores now locally that don’t allow masks or raised hoodies
Online
Pro
- Your shopping is kept from prying eyes as far as security cameras go
Con
- If you buy something to be delivered, the retailer usually wants your address, email and phone number, and (unless using a gift card) your credit card info
- Even if you buy something to collect in store, most still require a phone number which can be hard to make private if burner phones aren’t legal where you live and/or the retailer won’t accept VoIP numbers
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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
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I have been deliberating this lately. Mainly due to online providers overreaching. I recently bought a small common office product. Click and collect. I ensured to click no comms/marketing. 2 times in the following 4 days I got an email offering an apple subscription from a no reply email address. I had to call and complain to get them to stop and they had the cheek to say they HAD to legally offer me this as it was free perk with my purchase. They didnt see how they could be wrong and tried to convince me this was not marketing and was infact a great deal for me. I asked him if I’d walked in store would I have been forced to somehow take the offer.
I am sick of my contact details and my spending ability being considered fair game.
You give them your money and that’s not enough they always want more.
Agreed. There was a time when only shitty free services did this (if you’re not paying, you’re the product!) but now every company under the sun wants to sell your data. If I ever buy something digital I always use a fake name/address/phone number and a gift card for payment. But with physical purchases it becomes tougher