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I just found out my bank sold my spending data for a year without telling me
I got a weirdly specific ad for a debt consolidation loan last week, and the numbers matched my exact credit card balance from last month. Did some digging in the fine print of my online banking agreement, and it turns out they've been selling anonymized transaction data to a marketing firm since January. The thing is, my zip code and age bracket make it pretty easy to figure out who I am. Has anyone else had this happen, and is there a way to actually opt out of it?
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dylan_brown302d ago
That happened to my friend with her grocery store card.
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nguyen.angela2d ago
Wait, didn't I read that some of those store apps can even guess when you're pregnant before you tell people? That's the part that freaks me out the most... @dylan_brown30, your friend's story is just the tip of the iceberg. They track everything you buy and then just... show it back to you like it's normal. It's not just creepy, it feels like they're watching you in your own kitchen.
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shane_hayes2d ago
I used to think that stuff was just harmless marketing data, but seeing your exact balance show up like that is creepy. You can try calling them to opt out, but good luck getting a real person who knows what you're talking about.
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