Don't send your card details!
We’ve launched a brand new free site today: cardsgone.com. The aim’s simple, you can speedily create a list of all the cards in your wallet and purse to help you swiftly cancel if they’re lost or stolen.
In developing it one of the key challenges was to build it without storing any personal details so there’s no risk, even though the main feature is giving people a link to get all their phone numbers instantly updated.
Quite deliberately I’ve communicated this as strongly as I can – with a Security FAQ at the very top – the first of which is…
“Don’t attach personal details”
This explains how if you use the printed version be very safe with it and don’t put account numbers on it.
A surprise email
Therefore imagine the surprise and bemusement in MSE towers this morning when someone emailed us their Card number AND expiry date!
We looked at the page to try and figure out why and all we could find is the small print.
“Suggest cards/numbers”
Which is meant to be for people to suggest new cards to add to the list or new telephone numbers.
It’s one of those things you never think of, even with all the messaging it’s quite surprising someone would send their card number through so easily (considering the page at every turn tells you never to do that) so it’s now being changed to:
“Suggest cards/tel no’s”
I must admit my heart did sink a touch, but then I remembered the fact a small percentage of people sending bank charges letters wouldn’t add their details, they just sent their letters (see don’t send letters without adding your details blog).
This site has become a broad church for people ranging from serious money nerds to those with financial phobias and mental capacity issues, and I want us to try and help all of them.
Only the other day yet another clever sod tried to have a go saying “what you do is common sense, I don’t see the need, I think it’s pointless”. Now ignoring the insult to the range of work we do, the huge depth of time and research that goes into them – and thinking through techniques – even if he was right, helping confirm the common sense approach to people is really important.
So I’m taking this episode as another reminder of why we do what we do and the different types of people reading and using.
Comment and Discuss
P.S. we replied to the email politely explaining the problem with sending us details and to be very careful about ever sending that to anyone and of course deleted the info.
