What should I do if I can't use Privacy.com?

As far as I can tell, Privacy.com is only available in the US, and I’m not sure how can I keep safe and private as possible my banking information when doing online stuff or sending/receiving money. Right now I’m using PayPal because seems to be widely accepted in a bunch of sites, but I don’t trust PayPal and I feel kinda paranoid giving up my info to them.

What could I do if card anonymity services aren’t an option?

3 Likes

Monero/Bitcoin or in person shopping with cash.

2 Likes

Crypto isn’t an option either. Nobody here uses crypto and buying stuff online with crypto sometimes is quite inconvenient.

Yeah, that’s what I always do when I do the groceries, for example, but I want to be prepared in case I’d make a wire transfer for example and that’s the single option I got, specially nowadays that wire transfers and online payments are more common than using cash, like for example paying college, something that’s quite concerning for me.

BTW my country uses FUCKING SMS for simple wire transfers… What a disgrace…

3 Likes

micdan Yes that’s right unfortunately. :upside_down_face: If you need to buy something online and crypto or cash are not an option, you can use a foreign debit card if you want to make it more difficult for the government to know how you spend your money. Some may have the “True Name” option, in which you can choose the name you like when you buy stuff. Another option is Revolut; it seems that you can use whatever name you want when you buy things online because they don’t check it, but it’s not privacy-friendly

1 Like

Privacy.com does not provide anonymity. It only provides privacy from the merchant and/or payment processor because you can fake a name and address and use a randomly generated virtual card. Despite its name, the purpose of privacy.com is to help consumers avoid credit card fraud and not a service helping people achieve privacy. There is however some benefit to using the service by the privacy community. Also when you create an account they verify your identity and your bank account is linked to fund your purchases.

Also keep in mind that financial transactions are regulated by governments especially large transactions. For day to day purchases use cash or cash equivalents (gift cards, prepaid cards). For online payments see if there are prepaid cards available in your country. I am not sure why you want to keep your tuition payments anonymous since the government already knows you’re attending your uni. If it’s just to eliminate a credit card company or payment processor from knowing, then there should be alternative payment methods offered by your uni as there are in the US. A check or something similar is likely to be accepted.

1 Like

I actually love the idea of a foreign card that does not require you to use your real name but an alias

do you have any suggestion of a bank that does that? Im in the UK and so far, I only found Monzo that gives you the option to create disposable debit card numbers but they are still tied with your name

1 Like

You should ask to pay cash. Even for paying college, you can probably ask to pay in cash even if it is unusual.

1 Like