Program Notes for the 4th week of the Month

Aug 24, 2026, 1 and 7 PM | Join Online Meeting >Privacy.com Virtual Credit Cards | Take control when you purchase online. Protect your card details and money by creating virtual cards for each online destination or for each purchase.
> The tiny dots in your Android phone’s status bar are trying to tell you something – howtogeek.com

This Week’s Tip or Trick

​Is using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or my card’s tap-and-pay more secure than swiping my card in the merchant’s card reader?
Ai Response
Yes, using Google Pay, Apple Pay, or a tap-to-pay contactless card is more secure than inserting your physical card into a reader. Both contactless methods avoid the risk of skimmers that target card-insertion slots, but Google Pay and Apple Pay offer the highest level of security because they never share your actual card number with the merchant.
Why Google or Apple Pay Are the Most Secure
  • Virtual Account Numbers: They use tokenization, meaning a hidden virtual number replaces your real card data for the transaction.
      • Tokenization replaces your sensitive 16-digit credit card number with a randomized, temporary substitute called a token.
  • No Data Exposure: If the store suffers a data leak, hackers only get a useless one-time code instead of your real financial details.
  • Biometric Lock: You must unlock your phone with your face, fingerprint, or PIN before it will pay.
Why Touch and Pay (Contactless Cards) is Safer than Inserting
  • No Skimmer Risk: Tapping bypasses the physical reader slot where criminals plant internal hardware skimmers.
  • Encrypted Codes: It sends a secure, single-use digital stamp rather than your static magnetic stripe data.
  • Card Stays with You: Your physical card never leaves your hand, reducing the risk of loss or cloning.
Why Inserting a Card is Riskier
  • Physical Contact: Inserting exposes your card chip data to internal terminal contacts and potential skimming devices.
  • Left Behind: It is easy to forget and leave your physical card inside the machine.

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