Next
Fast Company|May - June 2020
Credit Crunch In the battle between surveillance capitalists and privacy advocates, the latest front is the credit card.
BURT HELM
Next

.On Privacy.com, shrouding your online shopping habits sounds easy: Enter your debit or bank account information, and the website generates a virtual debit card. This socalled burner card acts as a buyer by proxy, keeping your name and billing address out of view. Simply type its number, expiration date, and CVV code into any e-commerce site, hit PURCHASE, and Privacy takes over. The service charges your actual card, adds those funds to the burner one, and uses the new card to do the actual shopping.

The promise is appealing. The card can be configured so that retailers can’t tack on any additional charges, such as an automatic subscription fee. If the retailer’s site gets hacked, you just ditch the burner and move on. And if anyone involved in the transaction tries to sell your data, the only card information they’ll have is that the purchase came from Privacy.

This isn’t the only service offering to mask people’s transactions. Last August, Apple introduced the Apple Card, a Goldman Sachs–issued, no-number credit card that won’t track your purchases. Privacy and other upstart software companies such as FigLeaf and Abine are working on burner cards and other technologies, such as password managers and browser extensions that cloak your web surfing. Offline, consumers have always been able to buy things anonymously with cash. But online, it’s a different story. “We want to give consumers the control to say, ‘I love doing business with you, I want to participate on the internet—I just want to do it on my terms,’ ” says Abine cofounder Rob Shavell.

This story is from the May - June 2020 edition of Fast Company.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the May - June 2020 edition of Fast Company.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM FAST COMPANYView All
Orange Crush
Fast Company

Orange Crush

Y Combinator was designed to be a supercondensed version of Silicon Valley. Now that it's at full potency, can it maintain its outsider pose while being the ultimate insiders' network?

time-read
10+ mins  |
March - April 2024
10 TREND
Fast Company

10 TREND

FROM THE MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES | PLUS 606 HONOREES FROM ADVERTISING TO VIDEO

time-read
10+ mins  |
March - April 2024
THE WORLD'S 50 MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES
Fast Company

THE WORLD'S 50 MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES

THE 1920S, WATER WENT INTO A GENERATOR, AND DC POWER CAME OUT. NOW ELECTRONS GO INTO A GENERATOR, AND INTELLIGENCE COMES OUT.\"

time-read
10+ mins  |
March - April 2024
Reimagining the ways we work and meet
Fast Company

Reimagining the ways we work and meet

AS BUSINESS LEADERS RETHINK THEIR REAL ESTATE FOOTPRINT, THEY'RE EMBRACING SMALLER, HIGH-QUALITY, AMENITY-RICH SPACES THAT ARE MORE FOCUSED ON HUMAN CONNECTION.” IN OTHER WORDS, CONVENE.

time-read
2 mins  |
March - April 2024
Hollywood
Fast Company

Hollywood

AI is going to transform Hollywood But it won't be the horror story everyone's afraid of.

time-read
7 mins  |
Winter 2023-2024
Chick-Fil-A's New Testament
Fast Company

Chick-Fil-A's New Testament

Boycotted for years by liberals - and now by conservatives, too - a christian-driven brand is trying to walk the narrow path toward growth. What happens next could be enlightening for businesses everywhere.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2023-2024
The Office You Want
Fast Company

The Office You Want

Business leaders want workers back. Workers are loath to resume their commutes. We asked five leading design firms to create plans that might make leaving home seem worthwhile.

time-read
8 mins  |
Winter 2023-2024
Fan With a Plan
Fast Company

Fan With a Plan

Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin parlayed a ski shop in suburban Philly into a $31 billion sports apparel juggernaut. Now, he's adding trading cards, gambling, live events, and more.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2023-2024
The Helpful Hardware Man
Fast Company

The Helpful Hardware Man

Marques Brownlee has rewired the way people shop for gadgets-and how companies sell them. Inside the humble factory with the power to shape the $1 trillion consumer electronics industry.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2023-2024
PIZZA, ROBOTS, and MONEY
Fast Company

PIZZA, ROBOTS, and MONEY

THE ZESTY TALE OF ONE OF THE BIGGEST FLOPS IN SILICON VALLEY HISTORY

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2023-2024