Visa, Mastercard halt gun purchase tracking code

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Seriously?

Why would a private company care if someone buys guns, what good would that info do for them….unless they happen to share it with the govt!
Every card purchase is categorized... Why would they care if I bought gas? Or groceries? Are you worried about them sharing that information with the government?
 
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Amos Moses
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Every card purchase is categorized... Why would they care if I bought gas? Or groceries? Are you worried about them sharing that information with the government?
It is an infringement of 2nd amendment rights and federal law prohibits collecting background check in order to create a national gun owner registry. This is just an attempt to back door those rules.
 

Flyjunky

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Every card purchase is categorized... Why would they care if I bought gas? Or groceries? Are you worried about them sharing that information with the government?
So they can better market to you. I don’t remember any card company marketing guns to me.

Like said above, it’s simply a way to back door a registry, there is no other logical reason.
 

MattB

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Like said above, it’s simply a way to back door a registry, there is no other logical reason.
It isn’t at all because it wouldn’t include cash buyers - and frankly would not include a portion of CC buyers. But it is a way for card issuers to come up with a methodology to set criteria to report transactions or patterns of transactions that seems suspicious. I am still not sure what LE might do with that information.
 
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Sounds to me like a private company collecting specific data to share with the government. Hence the multiple pieces of pending legislation to outlaw the process.

I doubt much will be passed to protect against it, but I sure hope so.
Sounds like a private company, monetizing every ounce of data they can 'metric' and sell in some form.

Same as the more information I collect from a client that uses a card, the greater reduction in % split I pay for that transaction through the interchanges, merchants and gateways etc and so forth.

Every person along the way is buying and selling.

In one FY that's around $40k savings. We could save more by swapping systems, starting a merchant account, etc, but baby steps.

What they do with it, and who they sell it to, and what they use it for, and so on and so forth, ain't my business.

Edit: this is the B2B world. So I can't speak to what B2C data is.
 

Flyjunky

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It isn’t at all because it wouldn’t include cash buyers - and frankly would not include a portion of CC buyers. But it is a way for card issuers to come up with a methodology to set criteria to report transactions or patterns of transactions that seems suspicious. I am still not sure what LE might do with that information.
Ok, I’m sure there’s no nefarious reason to track these purposes. I guess I’m just paranoid. All these new gun laws being pushed real hard and now this, just coincidence I bet.
 
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So they can better market to you. I don’t remember any card company marketing guns to me.

Like said above, it’s simply a way to back door a registry, there is no other logical reason.
Most of the data they gather has nothing to do with you personally.

It's used on an internal and business to businesses level. I've never had a CC company market anything besides their cards to me.

Businesses love data and metrics. If Cabela's somehow could figure out that hipsters make up 68% of their customers, you know they would immediately become huge BHA supporters.
 
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There are approximately 393 million privately owned guns in America. Could you imagine the amount of bloodshed that would occur if anyone actually tried to take those from private citizens? Do you people know anyone with the cajones to actually go door to door demanding you turn in your firearms? My friends in the military and LE laugh at that idea because they know it’s not possible. Would it not make more sense to leverage gun control as a fear tactic? If you constantly fear that someone is coming to take them, then you are seeding the idea in your own mind that someone has the power to do just that. I’m not worried that anyone is coming for my firearms but I do wonder every time that the media is pushing that narrative, what are they trying to make sure you don’t see. If you are busy clutching your guns because you fear them being taken away, then you won’t do anything about the corruption that you absolutely know is happening. And credit card companies are businesses, they’re going to do what’s in their best interest, not yours. You are not just a customer but also a product to them. People who think or expect anything different from them need to grow up. Nothing is free, ever! So these reward cards that I use are compiling data and selling it or using it and in return I get a check every year. They take that data and use it to predict trends, track spending, and sell it to other companies. That data when compiled for millions of people is super useful, hence why they pay your for it. Welcome to the Information Age!
 
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Justin Crossley

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Interesting point. I’ve had one credit card that I’ve had for many years and have reaped many benefits from it. I’ve never thought I should be worried of my purchases…
To be clear, I'm not against using credit cards at all. I use a bunch of them all the time. I just believe there is danger in a society where all trades and transactions can be tracked by the government.
 

Justin Crossley

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There are approximately 393 million privately owned guns in America. Could you imagine the amount of bloodshed that would occur if anyone actually tried to take those from private citizens? Do you people know anyone with the cajones to actually go door to door demanding you turn in your firearms? My friends in the military and LE laugh at that idea because they know it’s not possible. Would it not make more sense to leverage gun control as a fear tactic? If you constantly fear that someone is coming to take them, then you are seeding the idea in your own mind that someone has the power to do just that. I’m not worried that anyone is coming for my firearms but I do wonder every time that the media is pushing that narrative, what are they trying to make sure you don’t see. If you are busy clutching your guns because you fear them being taken away, then you won’t do anything about the corruption that you absolutely know is happening.
Dude, this is happening in small steps right in front of our faces. We aren't seeing officers going door to door to confiscate firearms, but we are seeing states that are slowly adding laws that make things you have illegal. Eventually, we'll wake up and realize it's too late and we can't fight back if we wanted.

I also don't think nearly as many people would fight back as say they would. As Americans, we have it really really good, and we have way too much to lose. So, most of us (including me) actually do nothing as our rights are slowly chipped away.
 
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Most of the data they gather has nothing to do with you personally.

It's used on an internal and business to businesses level. I've never had a CC company market anything besides their cards to me.

Businesses love data and metrics. If Cabela's somehow could figure out that hipsters make up 68% of their customers, you know they would immediately become huge BHA supporters.
Sounds like someone's got a MA...
 

Flyjunky

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Most of the data they gather has nothing to do with you personally.

It's used on an internal and business to businesses level. I've never had a CC company market anything besides their cards to me.

Businesses love data and metrics. If Cabela's somehow could figure out that hipsters make up 68% of their customers, you know they would immediately become huge BHA supporters.
So why try to put a special code in place for firearms now? I don't buy it's just for the data or metrics. If that was the case they would have done it long ago, it's not like this data/metrics is some new thing.
 
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Amos Moses
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It’s easy to act like this doesn’t have anything to do with gun control, but we have to remember there is a mass coordinated effort from the other side to chip away at the rights of gun ownership. If we don’t discuss and do anything about it, we’re basically giving up.
 

Flyjunky

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It’s easy to act like this doesn’t have anything to do with gun control, but we have to remember there is a mass coordinated effort from the other side to chip away at the rights of gun ownership. If we don’t discuss and do anything about it, we’re basically giving up.
There’s too many people, many on this site, who don’t care about the incremental chipping away of our 2A. It’s worrisome, sad really, that on a hunting site we don’t have close to 100% agreement on our 2A rights.
 

MattB

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Ok, I’m sure there’s no nefarious reason to track these purposes. I guess I’m just paranoid. All these new gun laws being pushed real hard and now this, just coincidence I bet.
Not at all, it is purely political. Look up "Amalgamated Bank" bank if you want to better understand the genesis of the initiative.

The point was that it isn't a registry. Because it isn't an not even close.
 
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