Every time you go online, you leave a trail of personal information that data brokers and criminals can scoop up like candy.
Every purchase, every new account or subscription, every web search, every social media post puts you at risk of having your money stolen or your life invaded.
—You see a string of mysterious charges on your everyday card, and now you’ve got to cancel it and clean up the mess.
—Someone uses your driver’s license as ID on bad checks.
—An impostor commits a crime in your name and you’re wrongly accused.
—You buy your mother-in-law’s heart disease medication and suddenly your health insurance premium goes up.
—You spend time searching ‘auto racing’ and now your car insurer sees you as ‘high risk’.
And the shocks keep coming.
Credit card fraud, identity theft and data abuse are clear and present dangers. Your name, age, address, phone numbers, Social Security number, credit card details, credit history, web searches and spending habits are high value currency being traded in the shadowy recesses of the Internet— and the risks keep rising.
Worldwide payment card fraud losses are set to exceed $35 billion in 2023. In 2018, over one-third of all losses occurred in the United States. In that same year in the US, a fraudulent credit card use occurred every 3.5 minutes. In 2019, the total number of records exposed in data breaches increased by a massive 284 percent over 2018, with over 15.1 billion records exposed.
And there’s another, equally sinister, threat lurking online. Data brokers are legitimate businesses that collect and sell your personal data for profit. They’re sucking up your digital exhaust and selling it to companies, political parties and individuals. Even your bank can be in on the action. This data directly affects the ads you see, the insurance premiums you pay, and the political messaging you receive.
Remember your mother-in-law’s heart medication and your passing interest in auto racing? Your insurance providers are buying data on your spending habits or search history and categorizing and charging you accordingly. And they’re not the only ones doing it.
Data broking is a US $200 billion, unregulated industry that’s near impossible to control. Your intimate details are harvested, manipulated, even misrepresented, and sold on a list for as little as $79. While opting out is sometimes an option, completely removing your personal data from all commercial collections is impossible. You might win the war against one source (after months of trying), but there are over 4,000 data broking agencies worldwide. Keeping your details private is like playing a never-ending game of Whack-A-Mole: it’s exhausting and frustrating and you won’t win. So, what do you do?
Your best defense is not to give out your personal information in the first place. But in an increasingly data-driven world, that’s impossible. Or is it?
MySudo powerfully protects your identity online (name, age, address, email, phone number, browsing history)—and now our NEW virtual cards can protect your online purchasing as well.
A MySudo virtual card is like your personal credit or debit card, with far less risk. It’s not associated with your personal identity or your personal credit or debit card number, so you’re protecting your private information and limiting your financial risk. You can have an active MySudo virtual card for every Sudo you create in the app.
You can think of a virtual card as a financial avatar. It goes online in place of you and your personal credit or debit card and completes transactions without leaving your personal information. Combined with the other features in MySudo, it’s a powerful tool in your privacy toolbox—like a firewall for your digital life.
So, let’s take a closer look at the benefits of MySudo virtual cards:
- You stay private online. MySudo virtual cards are not linked to your name, age, address, phone number, SSN, or any other identifying information, so your private data stays private.
- Your spending habits can’t be tracked. The charges you make with your MySudo virtual cards are simply described on your bank statement as ‘MySudo Transaction’, so your data isn’t worth much to your bank or the data brokers.
- You keep your money safer. Each MySudo virtual card represents, but works separately from, your personal credit or debit card, so even if a virtual card is part of a data breach, you really limit your risk.
- You can set up a card in seconds. A MySudo virtual card takes a minute to create and only seconds to cancel or replace. No bank queues or forms—just a few taps in the app.
- You can use MySudo virtual cards just about anywhere in the US. We’ll add more countries and currencies soon.
- You reclaim control. MySudo and now its virtual cards give you control online. We like to say, the Internet stole your privacy and MySudo gives it back.
Explore MySudo—for privacy, wherever technology takes you.
*This card is issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by MasterCard International. Card powered by Marqeta.
