Sick and tired of the "listening"

[brianl703]

At very least they know what the merchant sells.

Yes, that's one way they limit the use of some cards (you could have a debit card that is only allowed to be used for gasoline purchases)

 

[brianl703]

Here's an interesting one for you if you have a Walmart online account. If you use the card to make a purchase at any point using the website logged into your account it'll recognize that card with your account when buying in person in store. You can log into your account right after buying and see every item you bought in that in store transaction.

Nope. I don't see that. I used my card to purchase a 256GB sd card online from Walmart for curbside pickup.

I later purchased some usb thumb drives in-store from that same Walmart.

Guess which purchase does NOT shop up when I look my purchases on Walmart.com?

That's right, the in-store purchases.

 

[Torrid]

Yes, that's one way they limit the use of some cards (you could have a debit card that is only allowed to be used for gasoline purchases)

I didn't know they had ones that limit purchases, but I know they have different perk or cash back levels based on the items purchased or for certain stores.

 

[Torrid]

Nope. I don't see that. I used my card to purchase a 256GB sd card online from Walmart for curbside pickup.

I later purchased some usb thumb drives in-store from that same Walmart.

Guess which purchase does NOT shop up when I look my purchases on Walmart.com?

That's right, the in-store purchases.

Interesting. Mine always do.

 

[brianl703]

I didn't know they had ones that limit purchases, but I know they have different perk or cash back levels based on the items purchased or for certain stores.

One of the perks for Federal employees is that they'll reimburse you for your public transit expenses. They give you a card (probably a Visa) to use for this. They apparently found it necessary to lock this card down so it only allows purchases from public transit providers, which is done via the merchant code.

I'd expect that the same is done for fleet fueling cards, so they can only be used for gasoline purchases.

 

[Pew]

Here's an interesting one for you if you have a Walmart online account. If you use the card to make a purchase at any point using the website logged into your account it'll recognize that card with your account when buying in person in store. You can log into your account right after buying and see every item you bought in that in store transaction.

As far as bank and retailer, that's probably not how they're getting the email address. It's out there somewhere tied to your information and advertising companies find it financially beneficial to connect the dots.

Nope. I don't see that. I used my card to purchase a 256GB sd card online from Walmart for curbside pickup.

I later purchased some usb thumb drives in-store from that same Walmart.

Guess which purchase does NOT shop up when I look my purchases on Walmart.com?

That's right, the in-store purchases.

I haven't used walmart online, but some do. I shop at REI online and in store and my in-store purchases will show up. I don't know how common this is with other stores though; Kohls.com doesn't do it. But, I'm also an REI co-op rewards member so I don't know if the same applies to non-members since my purchases will be tracked via my member number.

Edit: Amazon did/does this as well. Pre-cv19 there was an Amazon Go store near my office building that I went to a lot for lunch. Your purchases in-store would also show up online....but the difference with this scenario is you scanned your Amazon app QR code to go into the store first so everything was linked to your Amazon account.

 

[Vil_Riker]

What does my access point have to do with this? Nobody but me knows the MAC address and private IP address of any device connecting to my router via my access point.

That's a mistaken assumption.

 

[opublic]

If the merchant is setup with Level 3 data for that processor, they get the full item description and price.

Level 2 and Level 3 Card Data

Describes Level 2 and Level 3 card data and gateway integrations that support processing Level 2 and Level 3 card data.

knowledgecenter.zuora.com

What is level 2 and level 3 data in credit card processing?

You can lower interchange rates in your credit card process by using Level 2 and Level 3 data. Find out what they are and how you can benefit from them.

www.checkout.com

 

[brianl703]

That's a mistaken assumption.

Really? Explain that one. Omit any theories about hackers. Or routers preloaded with spyware. Or whatever the tinfoil hat conspiracy of the day is.

 

[Torrid]

Really? Explain that one. Omit any theories about hackers. Or routers preloaded with spyware. Or whatever the tinfoil hat conspiracy of the day is.

The signature must be left somewhere in the handshake that happens with websites and pages we visit because that's how things are encrypted. The whole hacker thing that you don't want used for theories have to have certain signatures they can pick up to get enough to access devices. Call that tinfoil if you want but that just happened a few days ago with my oldest child. I happened to be around at the time to witness this person accessing her webcam trying to extort her for money. Unfortunately because I don't know what they used and how they got into her computer, the only thing I could do was wipe it and reinstall the OS and start from scratch.

 

[brianl703]

The signature must be left somewhere in the handshake that happens with websites and pages we visit because that's how things are encrypted. The whole hacker thing that you don't want used for theories have to have certain signatures they can pick up to get enough to access devices

The MAC address (or IP address) of a client has zero to with SSL encryption. The MAC address loses whatever relevance it has past the first router/firewall; the IP address, past the first device that does NAT (which, in most home networks, is the router/firewall).

EDIT: Additionally, devices like Android (and probably Iphone too) randomize their MAC address and use a different MAC address for each SSID that they connect to. Windows does this too, although maybe not by default.

Call that tinfoil if you want but that just happened a few days ago with my oldest child. I happened to be around at the time to witness this person accessing her webcam trying to extort her for money. Unfortunately because I don't know what they used and how they got into her computer, the only thing I could do was wipe it and reinstall the OS and start from scratch.

The most common way for hackers to get into anyone's computer is.....wait for it...sending them an email attachment or link that they click on. I've seen this time and time and time again.

It never ends.

It's why most major corporations send "phishing test" emails to their employees. If they open the link or click the attachment, they get a talking-to and more training.

Hopefully, you did not give your child admin access to that machine after you reinstalled it.

 

[Pablo]

Your access point tied to your address and your card tied to your address. If you have wifi enabled on your cell phone then your access point tied to your GPS location tied to your address. If you have made a purchase online then Google and/or Apple will know the card number as well.

It's quite fascinating how data points can connect. You can be pinpointed and identified based on deidentified data points.

That's what some restaurants do.

 

[brianl703]

That's what some restaurants do.

The ones that don't require you enter your phone number for rewards? Not that I've seen any like that.

I use an old phone number I have parked at Numberbarn, which can receive SMS messages.

 

[Vil_Riker]

@brianl703 I think we are talking about two different things. Websites are a very minor issue here. You should focus more on what Google and Apple know about you through Android or IOS. That little device in your pocket is what tells them everything about you. Even if you disable location services, Wi-Fi, etc. the OS will still communicate these data back home because privacy restrictions only apply to the third parties.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Grocery stores need to keep track of what is sold to keep store stocked.
They still do that, but now keep track of what you bought to advertise to you.

Fred Meyer/Kroger does this, and knows exactly what is bought because of someone's rewards card. They send me coupons where about 80% of them are for products I typically buy, and it saves a lot of money due to the coupon discounts - which I like. I don't think they share my info with anyone else, because seems I only get stuff related to groceries from Fred Meyer/Kroger.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Ok, but the retailer doesn't know what my email address is (unless I gave it to them). My bank should NOT be giving my email address to a retailer.

You have a rewards card or similar with them?

 

[brianl703]

@brianl703 I think we are talking about two different things. Websites are a very minor issue here. You should focus more on what Google and Apple know about you through Android or IOS. That little device in your pocket is what tells them everything about you. Even if you disable location services, Wi-Fi, etc. the OS will still communicate these data back home because privacy restrictions only apply to the third parties.

Yes, I get that. I install very few apps on my phone. I do most everything with my laptop. (The screen is bigger, the keyboard nicer, and it's way faster).

 

[brianl703]

You have a rewards card or similar with them?

I have no rewards card with any grocery store. I usually enter my mom's phone number or her old phone number. Failing that, I ask the cashier if they could enter their number.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Really? Explain that one. Omit any theories about hackers. Or routers preloaded with spyware. Or whatever the tinfoil hat conspiracy of the day is.

I think a lot of people who can't connect the technology dots must think it is a conspiracy, lol.

 

[brianl703]

Old enough to remember the conspiracy theories about Prodigy and the stage.dat file.

Unexplained is exactly how much data they could possibly steal from your computer via the 2400 baud modems then common.