Re: Visa, HNC Inc. develo

[Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>]

To: cypherpunks@toad.com

M >Same goes for the supermarket reselling my
M >buying patterns.  If they can sell information about me, my groceries
M >are cheaper (or they make money).  Selling personal information is a
M >competitive advantage.  For most people, this is more important than
M >privacy.
M >

M >		Marc

But it's trivial in the case of supermarket "Price Plus" card programs to 
use a nome de guerre and a mail drop (which you should be using in any 
case).  Thus you get the discount and the supermarket gets purchasing info 
which may or may not match your actual demographics depending on whether 
or not you lied about those as well as your name on the initial ap.

Secured credit cards allow you similar anonymous use of payment facilities 
(if obtained in a nome de guerre) without surrendering privacy.  

That said, I realize that it is difficult even to convince civilians of 
the benfits of receiving all their mail via an agent.  They consider it 
weird.  Perhaps "celebrity stalkers" and the general breakdown in civility 
will ecourage the use of communications screening devices like mail 
receiving services, voice mail, and the coming network-based 
communications servers.

Duncan Frissell

What this metaverse needs is a cheap anonymous communications server for 
all who want one.  This software entity located "somewhere on the nets" 
would receive all email, voice, fax, video, and VR communications directed 
to an individual, record and filter them, and forward (anonymously) those 
communications that meet certain pre-established criteria to its principal 
located "somewhere on the nets."

--- WinQwk 2.0b#0