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Making payments online is one of the biggest challenges to privacy. These services can assist you in protecting your privacy from merchants and other trackers, provided you have a strong understanding of how to make private payments effectively. We strongly encourage you first read our payments overview article before making any purchases:
Making Private Payments :material-arrow-right-drop-circle:{ .md-button }
Payment Masking Services
There are a number of services which provide "virtual debit cards" which you can use with online merchants without revealing your actual banking or billing information in most cases. It's important to note that these financial services are not anonymous and are subject to "Know Your Customer" (KYC) laws and may require your ID or other identifying information. These services are primarily useful for protecting you from merchant data breaches, less sophisticated tracking or purchase correlation by marketing agencies, and online data theft; and not for making a purchase completely anonymously.
Check your current bank
Many banks and credit card providers offer native virtual card functionality. If you use one which provides this option already, you should use it over the following recommendations in most cases. That way you are not trusting multiple parties with your personal information.
Privacy.com (US)
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Privacy.com's free plan allows you to create up to 12 virtual cards per month, set spend limits on those cards, and shut off cards instantly. Their paid plan allows you to create up to 36 cards per month, get 1% cash back on purchases, and hide transaction information from your bank.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title=Documentation}
Privacy.com gives information about the merchants you purchase from to your bank by default. Their paid "discreet merchants" feature hides merchant information from your bank, so your bank only sees that a purchase was made with Privacy.com but not where that money was spent, however that is not foolproof, and of course Privacy.com still has knowledge about the merchants you are spending money with.
MySudo (US, Paid)
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MySudo provides up to 9 virtual cards depending on the plan you purchase. Their paid plans additionally include functionality which may be useful for making purchases privately, such as virtual phone numbers and email addresses, although we typically recommend other email aliasing providers for extensive email aliasing use.
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MySudo's virtual cards are currently only available via their iOS app.
Criteria
Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend. In addition to our standard criteria, we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
- Allows the creation of multiple cards which function as a shield between the merchant and your personal finances.
- Cards must not require you to provide accurate billing address information to the merchant.
Gift Card Marketplaces
These services allow you to purchase gift cards for a variety of merchants online with cryptocurrency. Some of these services offer ID verification options for higher limits, but they also allow accounts with just an email address. Basic limits typically start at $5,000-10,000 a day for basic accounts, and significantly higher limits for ID verified accounts (if offered).
CoinCards
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CoinCards (available in the US and Canada) allows you to purchase gift cards for a large variety of merchants.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title=Documentation}
Criteria
Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend. In addition to our standard criteria, we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
- Accepts payment in a recommended cryptocurrency.
- No ID requirement.