Privacy has definitely become something so complicated and in recent years, due to the boom in internet prosperity, privacy evidently has been and will be getting weaker throughout the upcoming years. Odds are, you may be watched by marketing companies that want to share your information and their are people that would pay top dollar for your information as well.
Now there’s a difference between affiliates and non-affiliate marketing: With affiliate marketing, companies will share information strictly to other companies under the same ownership and control. Now, what’s dangerous is Non-Affiliate marketers who can sell your information to anyone; they don’t even have to be a financially-related company.
Companies have lobbied their way to making these forms work on an Opt-Out basis instead of Opt-In, so if you realize it or not, they will share your information with whoever they want if you don’t tell them not to. Now I recommend that you take your identity into consideration and if you haven’t already, be sure to scroll through our list of financial institutions to prevent yourself from being at risk.
Editor’s Note: companies that share with non-affiliates: Ally, Capital One, Chase, Citibank (bank and credit cards), Discover, FIA Cardservices. I recommend that you opt out of these first, if applicable. You will receive notice and reminders from companies concerning Opting-Out.
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The information can include:
If you have any sort of financial account, you’ve probably gotten one of these privacy forms in the mail:
- Social Security number
- What you buy (Transaction history)
- How much money you have (Balances)
- How much you make (Income)
- How much you borrow (Credit and payment history)
Ally Financial
- Privacy Notice
- Online: ally.com/privacy/preferences
- Phone: 1-800-204-2197
American Express
- Privacy Notice
- Online: americanexpress.com/communications
- Phone: 1-855-297-7748
Bank of America
- Privacy Notice
- Online: bofa.com/privacy
- Phone: 1-888-341-5000
Barclaycard US
- Privacy Notice
- Online: n/a
- Phone: 1-866-698-0236
Capital One
- Privacy Notice
- Online: n/a
- Phone: 1-888-817-2970
Charles Schwab
- Privacy Notice
- Online: n/a
- Phone: 877-812-1817
Chase
- Privacy Notice
- Online: Chase.com/privacypreferences
- Phone: 1-800-493-3319 or 1-888-868-8618
Citibank (Bank Accounts)
- Privacy Notice
- Online: n/a
- Phone: 1-888-214-0017
Citi Credit Cards
- Privacy Notice
- Online: n/a
- Phone: 1-877-640-3983
Discover Card
- Privacy Notice
- Online: n/a
- Phone: 1-800-225-5202
FIA Cardservices
- Privacy Notice
- Online: n/a
- Phone: 1-866-325-8310
US Bank
- Privacy Notice
- Online: usbank.com/privacy and tell us your preference on the “Exercise Your Privacy Choice” page.
- Phone: 1-800-370-8580
Wells Fargo
- Privacy Notice
- Online: Log on to wellsfargo.com, and choose Change Privacy Preferences under the Account Services tab.
- Phone: 1-888-528-8460
Conclusion:
Protect your identity and preserve your integrity while you can and Opt Out of them as soon as possible, because some of these financial institutions could consider sharing your information to non-affiliates for profit. Now, this is just a precaution and I recommend that you read your privacy notice for every financial institution that you have a card with.
Again, Opting is a legal action committed by big companies, but in order to protect yourself, I highly recommend that you contact them stating that you want to Opt-Out. If you currently hold a card or account with any of the institutions listed above, then make sure you take action while you can. Don’t forget to check out our full list of Credit Card Bonuses if you’re not interested at the moment.