Last year I setup a Privacy.com account in order to create and use Masked Credit Cards for online purchases. for a while I didn't use them at all but I've kicked this into high gear lately for a few reasons, that I'll explain.
First off if you do not know what a masked or virtual credit card is. A masked credit card is a virtual credit card that hides your real details. Instead of using your real credit card number, name and security code when purchasing something online, you can use a masked credit card. The funds will still be pulled from your account, but you don’t have to hand over your real credit card information to a payment processor. It's basically a temporary card number used for a specific merchant or specific transaction. For more info, read this article in Off The Grid News. It explains things well enough. LINK
I don't actually use a real credit card to purchase anything. All of my purchases are tied to my visa debit card. I control spending by keeping as little funds as necessary in my checking account, and then transfer money into the account as I spend. This ensures that even if my account number was stolen my maximum exposure us usually going to be $500 or less. I still have just about every other lock down control on the account as I can have but the fact is that every time I purchase something online, I'm potentially exposing my checking account to an unauthorized withdraw.
Here are some of the reasons that I'm using a masked card now:
There are some potential issues with this plan too and I don't want to ignore them.
There are other companies that offer similar services. Some banks and credit card companies offer free single use cards. These will protect your account from theft, but they do not mask your identity. Also there is a company Albine.com which has a service called BLUR. https://dnt.abine.com/#/masking
The service is very similar to Privacy.com but it's not free. You have to create a premium account which cost $100/yr. Then you can create as many masked cards as you want. There is also another difference. Blur masked cards appear as actual credit cards, so they may not get rejected by some merchants. However on Blur cards you cannot change the billing address you must use the actual Blur address and zip code as the billing address. I have NOT yet tried to use a Blur Masked card.
Lastly, do not use these suggestions as a way to conduct fraudulent or criminal activity. Do do stupid stuff online and you'll be fine and you won't put masked cards under the legislative cross hairs, potentially ruining this privacy tool for the rest of us.
First off if you do not know what a masked or virtual credit card is. A masked credit card is a virtual credit card that hides your real details. Instead of using your real credit card number, name and security code when purchasing something online, you can use a masked credit card. The funds will still be pulled from your account, but you don’t have to hand over your real credit card information to a payment processor. It's basically a temporary card number used for a specific merchant or specific transaction. For more info, read this article in Off The Grid News. It explains things well enough. LINK
I don't actually use a real credit card to purchase anything. All of my purchases are tied to my visa debit card. I control spending by keeping as little funds as necessary in my checking account, and then transfer money into the account as I spend. This ensures that even if my account number was stolen my maximum exposure us usually going to be $500 or less. I still have just about every other lock down control on the account as I can have but the fact is that every time I purchase something online, I'm potentially exposing my checking account to an unauthorized withdraw.
Here are some of the reasons that I'm using a masked card now:
- I can setup unique cards to sign up for introductory services that are free for some period of time, but then require a card to be billed automatically thereafter. I don't know how many times, I've signed up for a service at an introductory rate, only to realize a few months later that I forgot to cancel it. Canceling some online services are a real pain in the rear too. This is often even more complicated for phone apps, where you cannot easily log onto your account. So if I subscribe to an app or service that cost $4.99 per month after the first 30 days, I can create the account with a one time spend limit of $4.99. Then after the first month's bill the vendor will not be able to charge additional payments, unless I choose to log in and update the masked card info.
- Setup recurring services like Netflix. I can setup a card to approve only a specific payment per month, or authorize purchases up to a fixed limit. This enables me to automatically protect myself from unexpected rate increases or even billing mistakes. If Netflix pisses me off one day, I can also just cancel my payment service, while still leaving my account open, although suspended.
- Online purchases from unknown vendors. This one seems pretty obvious. I just ordered a poly80 kit from an online store that I've never used before. I created a single use card for the exact amount of the purchase.
- Limiting my personal information online. This is a big one for me lately. It seems like every time you sign up or register for something you need to provide your name, address and a whole slew of other personal info. By using a Privacy.com masked card I can enter any Name, Address and Phone number for the billing info. Privacy.com says they will automatically approve all request regardless of the information listed. I only do this for the billing address. When I'm actually purchasing a physical product that I need to have delivered to may home, I still have to enter the correct shipping address. The thing to remember here is that almost every single company these days can and will sell your personal information to marketing companies. By using a different address as my billing address, my hope is that eventually this bogus address will filter it's way to the numerous online data brokerage sources and make it's way into the people search websites. The more wrong information that is out there, the better my real information is hidden within that sea of noise.
- Privacy.com purchase details are concealed from my bank. So for example when I purchased that Poly80, why do I want my bank to have a record of the actual vendors that I've purchased from. It's none of their business.
There are some potential issues with this plan too and I don't want to ignore them.
- First obviously I have to trust Privacy.com with my information. I'll say that there is no way that any company can ensure that your personal information will remain hidden from cyber theft, it does seem like Privacy.com has a lot of incentive to work hard to protect your info. I believe that they have more to lose in the event of a data breech than a mom and pop internet retailer, who probably has very weak controls in place, if any at all.
- Masked cards will not work in all cases. Since they operate like a debit card, you cannot make transactions outside of the USA. I tried to use a Privacy.com card to purchase a ProtonVPN account and it just wouldn't work.
- Some vendors can block debit card transactions. This would be no different than a hotel requiring an actual credit card for booking vs a debit card. I know that I cannot rent a car with my own bank visa debit card nor could I use a Privacy.com masked card.
- Returning items may be more difficult. If you setup a single use card and purchase a pair of shoes, then decide to return them, the vendor is NOT going to be able to simply refund your purchase back to the virtual card.
- It seems like some in government want to crack down on any form of consumer anonymity. For now these methods work, but that could change really quickly in the future.
There are other companies that offer similar services. Some banks and credit card companies offer free single use cards. These will protect your account from theft, but they do not mask your identity. Also there is a company Albine.com which has a service called BLUR. https://dnt.abine.com/#/masking
The service is very similar to Privacy.com but it's not free. You have to create a premium account which cost $100/yr. Then you can create as many masked cards as you want. There is also another difference. Blur masked cards appear as actual credit cards, so they may not get rejected by some merchants. However on Blur cards you cannot change the billing address you must use the actual Blur address and zip code as the billing address. I have NOT yet tried to use a Blur Masked card.
Lastly, do not use these suggestions as a way to conduct fraudulent or criminal activity. Do do stupid stuff online and you'll be fine and you won't put masked cards under the legislative cross hairs, potentially ruining this privacy tool for the rest of us.