I will be attending a conference on chemistry in space in Hong Kong next year. Yesterday I filled in the registration form and payed the conference fee online with my credit card. I also signed up for an optional tour of Hong Kong at the end of the conference, and payed that one as well. Within a few minutes, I got an email from the conference organizers confirming the receipt of my registration and payment.
Half an hour later, my cell phone rang. It was my credit card company! They wanted to know if I had just made two payments to an address in Hong Kong. Apparently, the transactions had set off their alarm bells. They quoted the sums and I told them everything was in order.
Now, on the one hand, I’m glad they keep an eye out for suspicious transactions. The world seems to be full nowadays of people robbing bank accounts and abusing credit cards through the internet. I’d rather not have that happen to me. On the other hand, it’s a weird feeling that my credit card company (though certainly well-intentioned) keeps such close tabs on what I’m using my credit card for. It’s a question that’s been asked many times: how much privacy are we willing to give up for extra security? Pretty much everything we do nowadays is recorded, or can be. Phone calls, email, travelling, shopping, browsing the internet, making payments: it’s difficult to do any of that without leaving a trace. It’s something most people take for granted. I know I do. And do I care? No, not really. Not enough to try and do something about it, anyway. I just hope the powers that be use all the data they’ve gathered about me wisely.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 at 20:53
I understand your point. I think that since they are keeping info anyway, they should be able to see a trend in how and where you spend your money. For instance, if a couple of charges to Hong Kong ever show up on my credit cards, I most certainly hope that I will be receiving a phone call immediately! lol!