> I do wish there was a truly open payment solution though that doesn't require me to trust a big tech party.
Cash? Everything else needs a relying party of some kind in order to facilitate the transaction. If it's a credit card or digital wallet, the transaction passes through the credit card or debit card networks, and your info is logged and, depending on laws, potentially re-sold.
Don't get me wrong, I sometimes feel like Google shouldn't know my location either, but if my cell carrier already knows my location, I actually trust Google to not resell my location more than my cell carrier - it's worth more to Google if they're the only ones with that information and the same applies to Apple.
Another way of putting it, rules and regulations, strictly enforced and updated, is probably the only way to prevent tracking and abuse by legitimate big actors.
> If it's a credit card or digital wallet, the transaction passes through the credit card or debit card networks, and your info is logged and, depending on laws, potentially re-sold.
The reliance on credit card networks is part of the problem. There's no way to avoid them. And they're all from the US. This causes privacy issues but also moral problems because they tend to block sexually oriented products and services. In Europe a lot of countries are way more progressive than the US.
I was hoping bitcoin would become this system but obviously it's been completely hijacked by speculators and its original purpose of control of ones own money has been perverted.
There really should be a digital alternative for cash though. It's really silly that we still have to drag around pieces of linen and metal.
And no, I don't trust Google for anything at all. I don't want them making money off of me. I also block a lot of ads of course.
Debit cards don't all have to be processed through credit card networks, it's easier to do it that way. Websites could also take direct bank transfer payments if they felt like it, but it would hard internationally.
Cash? Everything else needs a relying party of some kind in order to facilitate the transaction. If it's a credit card or digital wallet, the transaction passes through the credit card or debit card networks, and your info is logged and, depending on laws, potentially re-sold.
Don't get me wrong, I sometimes feel like Google shouldn't know my location either, but if my cell carrier already knows my location, I actually trust Google to not resell my location more than my cell carrier - it's worth more to Google if they're the only ones with that information and the same applies to Apple.
Another way of putting it, rules and regulations, strictly enforced and updated, is probably the only way to prevent tracking and abuse by legitimate big actors.