blah64

lkrupp said:

blah64 said:

Ignoring these presumably temporary rollout problems, is APC finally going to allow anonymous cashless transactions? i.e., can one create an APC account via a pre-paid gift card without any real, personally-identifying data? Once funds are on the account, it seems at that point any point-of-sale purchases would be completely anonymous, almost as good as cash. Or is this not possible yet?

Apple Pay Cash requires a bank debit card, so no.

That's unfortunate, but thanks.

I could have sworn I read somewhere that when this rolled out that pre-paid cards were going to work.

Ignoring these presumably temporary rollout problems, is APC finally going to allow anonymous cashless transactions? i.e., can one create an APC account via a pre-paid gift card without any real, personally-identifying data? Once funds are on the account, it seems at that point any point-of-sale purchases would be completely anonymous, almost as good as cash. Or is this not possible yet?

mike1 said:

Would be curious to see results for the same survey in two years. This is how it will go with some people...

1. I would never allow the delivery person to enter my home.
2. Oh crap, the new TV I need for the Super Bowl is coming on Friday and it's supposed to rain. Plus I don't want that big box sitting on my porch until we get home from work.
3. I already have one of those smart lock thingies, maybe I'll try that Amazon Key service. Just this one time.
4. That went well, I'll have them put the groceries in the house too. Don't want them to sit outside in the heat all day.
5. Have you tried Amazon Key? It's really convenient.

Yes, this is exactly how it goes.  But you forgot the next steps:

6. Amazon: Oh, you want it left outside?  Sure, that'll be an extra $5.00
7. Amazon: Sorry, due to theft mitigation costs, we require the ability to go inside your house.

Think this is impossible?  It wasn't that long ago that people were (rightfully) aghast that anyone would let commercial companies read through their emails and create behavioral profiles based on the content.  And yet most people just shrug their shoulders if you mention it now.

gatorguy said:

cgWerks said:

gatorguy said:
Experion...

Wow, yea, that's a whole other thing. I wonder, though, if Google would now have more info.

There would be no way or reason for Google to have the type of information that Experian does. They won't know all your credit cards they won't know your banking information they won't have all your medical data they won't know who your insurers are they won't know what claims you filed.  

For what it's worth Apple would be more likely to know your financial history than Google would. Doesn't Apple require a credit card on file for Apple services and pull credit reports for certain purchases? Maybe not. 

Google has a ton of credit card transaction data.  Very surprised you wouldn't know this.  Not just credit cards, but both credit card and debit card records for approx 70% of all U.S. consumers! 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/07/30/googles-new-program-to-track-shoppers-sparks-a-federal-privacy-complaint

The "private, secure and anonymous" claim is quite weak, because the entire purpose is to marry the purchases to users of google services.  If you use gmail, for example, or attached your credit card to the play store, google knows exactly who you are, so the anonymous claim is pretty bogus.  And while some of their algorithms are public and have been scrutinized, this is not.

As for banking information, there are an estimated 1.2 Billion gmail users, and most people tend to give their banks an email address.  So yeah, google knows where you bank and high level info about their users' bank accounts, banking habits, etc.  Overdraft notice?  oops.  Account got flagged for an unusual purchase?  oops.

As for medical data, it's probably even worse.  You do give your healthcare providers your email/gmail address, right?  So even if the only info they send you via email is scheduling, google gets to see not only which medical facilities you use, but which doctors you see, when and how often you see them.  That's extremely valuable data, for around a billion users, not just those in the U.S.  For the less sophisticated healthcare providers who send more detailed information than scheduling, well I'm sure you get the picture.

Experian may know about your credit score, credit card usage, physical addresses..., but google knows most of that info, plus every word and image you share with your friends via email.  Every place you looked up in your Maps app, where you were when you searched, and who you were with at the time.

As for the comparison with Apple services, I can only say that I use a variety of Apple products and services every day and they have absolutely zero information about me or my purchases.  It does take extra effort on my part, but it's completely possible because their business model is to sell cool stuff in exchange for money.  Apple does not require a credit card to purchase their products, they do not require an email address or name or anything else.  They do not require a credit card to use the App Store, cash purchases of iTunes gift cards work great -- and they put an absolute limit on your loss in case of any kind of data breach.  I don't believe it's possible to use google's services without them knowing (or "statistically knowing") who you are because the services aren't designed for that, and their business model is to know more about you so they can try to influence your purchases.  But hey, people here keep wasting their breath telling you this over and over, it's not like you haven't heard it before.

nht said:

lowededwookie said:

Soli said:

Is it too much to ask that every modernized country use the same three 3-digit code for calling emergency services?

America wanted to be different to England which is also the reason why America drives on the right hand side of the road.

We'll talk again when America accepts the internationally recognised dd(d)-mm(m)-(yy)yy format instead of it's inane mm(m)-dd(d)-(yy)yy format

  

Both are inane since they don't sort.  yyyy-mm-dd is most useful.

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you.  At least someone has some common sense.  This is the ONLY format that actually makes sense.  It sorts properly without any special effort, and after having used it exclusively (except in forms that don't allow it) for many years, I can tell you that EVERYONE from both the Americans and Europe understand it immediately.  That's definitely not the case with either of the more common systems.

Please try it out folks, and spread the word.