However, there’s an easy way to protect your sensitive data whenever you shop online: By paying with a virtual card that hides your real credit card information.
A website called Privacy provides free virtual cards that will protect your financial details and make all your online purchases 100% secure.
More: Best cash-back credit cards
How Privacy works
If you’re making a purchase from an online store, Privacy will let you pay for your cart without ever revealing your real credit card information and lets you sub in a virtual “burner” card.
Privacy’s virtual cards also conceal other sensitive data, like your name and your billing address, so you won’t need to worry about companies selling your personal details to third parties.
Privacy is great for subscriptions, too. If you sign up for a streaming service free trial, you can simply disable your virtual card before your trial period ends and the subscription won’t be able to auto-renew.
You can also set limits on the amount a subscription service is able to charge your virtual card each month, so there’s no risk that the price will get jacked up without you knowing it.
It only takes a few minutes to install Privacy as a browser extension for Google Chrome, and once it’s set up you can generate virtual cards with just one click. Privacy has an mobile app as well, so you can still protect your financial details even if you’re impulse buying on your phone.
Simply add Capital One Shopping to your browser, and shop like normal. This free tool does the work for you.
Install Capital One ShoppingIs it secure?
Privacy is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which means that it’s held to the same security standards as all of the big banks.
Sensitive information like your credit card number and home address is protected using split key encryption — meaning that no single Privacy employee has access to your personal details.
Your customer details are stored in private networks scattered across at least three separate geographic locations and are inaccessible from the outside world.
Basically, with Privacy your personal data is as safe as it gets.
What people are saying about Privacy
Privacy currently has a 4.8/5 rating on the consumer review site Trustpilot. Here’s what some Privacy customers had to say:
Sign up for Credit Sesame and see everything your credit score can do for you, find the best interest rates, and save more money at every step of the way.
Get Started—100% FreePrivacy makes online shopping safe
Privacy safeguards your financial information against fraud and makes shopping online much more secure.
Best of all, it’s free to use and only takes a few minutes to install.
So sign up for Privacy today and protect yourself — and your money — against breaches, scammers, and unwanted subscriptions.
Sponsored
Here's how to save up to $700/year off your car insurance in minutes
When was the last time you compared car insurance rates? Chances are you’re seriously overpaying with your current policy.
It’s true. You could be paying way less for the same coverage. All you need to do is look for it.
And if you look through an online marketplace called SmartFinancial you could be getting rates as low as $22 a month — and saving yourself more than $700 a year.
It takes one minute to get quotes from multiple insurers, so you can see all the best rates side-by-side.
So if you haven’t checked car insurance rates in a while, see how much you can save with a new policy.
