I’ve been thinking about which is the better way to shop to maintain privacy. The way I see it there are pros and cons to each but I can’t decide which is ultimately better (and of course it depends on threat model and who you’re trying to hide from)
Irl
Pro
- Retailer doesn’t need your address/phone number/email address to complete a transaction
- If you pay with cash, your bank doesn’t have details of what you bought and can’t sell it to data brokers
Con
- Most/all stores have security cameras (often with facial recognition). You can mitigate it with masks or other coverings but I’ve seen a few stores now locally that don’t allow masks or raised hoodies
Online
Pro
- Your shopping is kept from prying eyes as far as security cameras go
Con
- If you buy something to be delivered, the retailer usually wants your address, email and phone number, and (unless using a gift card) your credit card info
- Even if you buy something to collect in store, most still require a phone number which can be hard to make private if burner phones aren’t legal where you live and/or the retailer won’t accept VoIP numbers
IRL : I’d argue most security cameras are, AFAIK, on closed circuits. I don’t think they can upload the data somewhere nor keep it for a long time. Also it takes quite a bit of power to process so unless there is a good reason for it, I doubt anybody nor even a computer vision algorithm, will process it to the point of face recognition.
Online : virtual credit card (not sure if they need your name) + PO box, post office or next door store compatible with the online shop. Most online shop I know do NOT require a mobile phone number. They might have a field for it but they are not using it for e.g. 2FA so if you were, by mistake or not, to put a random number I don’t think it would matter.
So at least some of the constraints can be changed.
It does depend. Most big retailers share CCTV footage with each other through a central company to build a profile on shoplifters (though I wouldn’t trust them to use it only for that)
This definitely hasn’t been my experience though. I can’t remember the last time I saw an online retailer that didn’t require one, or at least require that the field be filled out. I suppose you could just enter a dummy number but then if there’s a problem with the delivery they’ll always try to contact you by phone first
I actually asked this morning at the post office specifically thinking about your remarks.
They do sell non denominative credit cards here. So your card is KYC (I imagine, I don’t think it’s possible to go around that) and they know who you are, ID and all, but stores, online or not, have no name associated to it.
Regarding online stores I do again advise to be cautious and not assume that because a contact field is there, it is mandatory. Yes it might be important for deliveries of parcels but that’s a moot point if delivery happens to a 24/7 box.