Discover Financial Services announced that they’ll be tracking purchases made with their cards at gun stores.
Whether you believe in gun control or not, this is a clear example of targeting a group of people based off of their political beliefs.
Digital payments provide no privacy. All of your purchases can be tracked.
So, what are the implications of this?
Let’s start by looking at gun owners in this situation. In 2022, the California Department of Justice launched a firearms dashboard portal. They stated that their goal was to “improve transparency and information sharing for firearms related data.”
But when their website went live, they leaked personal identifying information of thousands of California residents.
The leak included gun owner’s full names, home addresses, DOB, and the date their concealed carry permit was issued.
Basically, they made a treasure map for criminals saying “These are the houses that have guns”.
I know that if I had a gun, and I was on that list I would be concerned for my safety.
But let’s move past guns. What are the implications of normal sales tracking.
In the past, we’ve talked a lot about Government overreach. Especially when the Canadian government froze the assets of people supporting the Freedom Trucker Convoy.
This is a really scary future. And with digital payments, your purchases can be limited. Then, if you tie in a social credit system, you can gain and lose points based off of what you buy.
Maybe you are spending too much money on things deemed bad for the environment, or you are supporting media that goes against what the government is saying.
By tracking your purchases, they are turning your finances into their finances, and weaponizing it.
I say this often, but you should not rely on digital payments. This is not financial advice, but stick to cash if possible, and keep your money out of banks and other digital areas.
I hope this article made you think about the implications of sales tracking, regardless of your viewpoints on gun control.
Please share this with you friends and family.
Thank you!
Eric Meder