So years ago I made an account on an online shopping platform. I took pains to do it as privately as I could. Shipping address as PO box. Didn’t use real name to sign up. Masked credit card for payment. Etc.
I had it for IDK like 6 years? 7 years? I didn’t use it a LOT, but let’s say once a month avg. Over those years I had 100% the best feedback rating. I never caused any prob to anyone. I acted in good faith.
Suddenly one day… account canceled. Contacted company. They said send us copy of your gov photo ID. I said how about no?
I know it was b/c my account triggered some predictive anti abuse system. Scammers do a lot of what I did. Diff is, I was not a scammer. I just wanted some privacy. Wasn’t even buying anything embarrasing. Just normal shit.
I thought since I got 6+ yrs of history, spend like mid 4 digits of $$ total, zero probs, perfect feedback for 6 years, I figured hey maybe I wouldn’t be lumped in. But fuck me sideways.
Funny thing is. I had an older acct under my real name. It had LESS total purcahse history. By a lot. I never submitted any ID to create it. It’s still there. It still works. Diff is, it’s tied to my home addy and real name. It didn’t trigger anti-abuse prediction. ANd it is prediction! I never abused anything, and never would.
More and more, I can’t participate in the world, if I try to protect myself from data brokers that collect every fucking thing I do.
I’m sorry. I just had to rant lol. What is your experience with online shopping, if you try to set it up not tied directly to your name, phone, & home addy?
This is KYC (Know Your Customer). Unfortunately it is legally mandated in many places and has been for a while. It sucks and should be abolished, but currently most companies can’t really avoid it, especially when selling anything is involved, under the guise of “money laundering prevention”. Of course there’s also companies that go beyond the legal minimum and do shady shit with data brokers.