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eBay Provides No Privacy For Sellers
Phanatic1a writes "Quoted in an article in The Nation, eBay's chief of security Joseph Sullivan brags up eBay's "flexible" privacy policy to LEOs, telling them "If you are a law-enforcement officer, all you have to do is send us a fax with a request for information, and ask about the person behind the seller's identity number, and we will provide you with his name, address, sales history and other details--all without having to produce a court order." The tens of millions of Paypal customers eBay has access to the financial records of might be curious to see what else Sullivan promises..."
I knew I read this months ago. And "The Nation" specifically says that they got the story from Ha'aretz, noting that the US news media hadn't picked up on the story. Other then some additional commentary, this is a repeat.
Those comments were made last winter, so those of you (like me) feeling a sense of Deja Vu - there's a reason.
According to PayPal's privacy policy, your banking info and everything else is safe unless the request is backed by a warrant or court order. It is interesting to note that they do reserve the right to give some of your info to your victims if they find that you've committed a fraud.
Here's the (IMO) relevent passages from the section outlining exceptions to the rule that they don't share your info:
"We disclose information that we in good faith believe is appropriate to cooperate in investigations of fraud or other illegal activity, or to conduct investigations of violations of our User Agreement. Specifically, this means that if we conduct a fraud investigation and conclude that one side has engaged in deceptive practices, we can give that person or entity's contact information (but not bank account or credit card information) to victims who request it.
We disclose information in response to a subpoena, warrant, court order, levy, attachment, order of a court-appointed receiver or other comparable legal process, including subpoenas from private parties in a civil action. "
666-607: 6th floor apartment of the beast
On many occasions people report scam artist's auctions, often on hijacked IDs, and eBay does nothing for days. Shill bidding [bidding on your own items] is strictly forbidden, but if you present eBay with the evidence, they often don't suspend all of the accounts involved.
m l user agreement
c y. html privacy policy
h read=36 270&start=0&msRange=189
Remember a few months ago when the chat boards were comprimised because Live World who runs the boards left an admin tool open to users on the Internet? Dozens of people's account information, and snitch information was made available to hackers that just needed to modify an address in Internet Explorer.
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/community/png-user.ht
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/privacy-poli
The "six investigators" bit is a joke. eBay would be even more ripe with fraud if hundreds of users didn't make reports to the "support" staff.
Read what a joke the support is like:
http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jsp?forum=7&t
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
The anarchists Cookbook was published by a covert government organization and was intended to cause physical harm to any who tried to execute the plans included in it.
Regardelss of whether it was a deliberate hoax or simple incompetence, the recipies in it are indeed dangerous, and likely to blow up in your face (literally) if followed.
For instance: The nitroglycerine recipe completely ignores the temperature control (i.e. ice bath) necessary to keep the heat of the reaction from setting off the product - demolishing the lab AND splashing the remains with the nitric and sulphuric acid not yet consumed by the reaction.
Don't try thiose recipes at home, kiddies.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
....ebay can't even guarantee that your ID and information is completely deleted from their system if you terminate your account with them....either willingly or forcibly. so in theory even though you think you have no relationship with them anymore. They could have all of your personal info somewhere either on a backup or in some active database....scary!
No, he just read the other part that said credit card transactions would not be handed over without a court order. (And, coincidently, that they recommend getting a court order for *any* information).
Hope that clears things up for you.
Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor - Ovidius
ebay sales aren't income unless you are making a profit. I've sold a LOT of stuff on ebay, mostly at a monetary loss.
You might want to consult a tax attorney on that one. If by "sold at a loss" you mean you sold it for less than you paid for it, doesn't that also apply to pretty much anything else sold used, such as used cars? Ask your local car dealer whether he can squeak out of paying sales (or even income) tax on those grounds.
To ensure perfect aim, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target
Read the article properly... financial info would require a court order, only IP/name/address/email is available without 1
I came, I conquered, I coredumped
I only sell used cars at a profit. However, when I buy them from customers, sales tax does not apply, with certain exception. When you trade in your car, you pay tax on the difference, not the whole new car price. Thus you are taxed only on the loss itself, since the residual value is basically tax free.
The government doesn't see 'sold at a loss' the way most folks think of it. If you purchased something and used it for a while and then sold it for less than you bought it for you didn't necessarily sell it at a loss because you're likely not factoring in the value that usage represents. Now, if you buy things just to resell on e-bay and sell them for less than you paid, you've incurred a loss - and you should probably rethink your strategy....
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jsp?forum=7&thread=36 270&modifed=20030701134051
I don't know why the other one didn't work.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
They say in this written policy that they will verify the request as coming from law enforcement. This is a contract. If they do not honor it, they are (presumably) subject to legal action, especially if somebody experiences a material loss as a result (maybe unlikely, but still).
I'm not talking about what they do in the real world, or what anybody says in any particular interview. But what they say in writing does have some weight (even if they may choose to disregard it).
IANAL, yadda.
I believe that the parent could be referring to SALES taxes.
Which only apply if the buyer and seller are both in the same state, and the seller is a licenses reseller or has some other business that requires collection of sales tax. Otherwise you shouldn't be collecting sales tax.
Just because the U.S. is the greatest country in the world doesn't mean we're superior...oh wait, yes it does.
You're very right. Consenting adults do have every write to enter into a contract. But eBay (and every other site I've ever seen) also tack on the bottom their right to change their mind to whatever the damn well please. Even if I enter into the agreement knowing that they won't give away my info, who knows what they'll be doing 6 months from now.
As long as the click-through agreements can be changed at a whim by only one of the parties, I won't treat it like a binding contract
-- Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you...My company recently had a Linux server with an open port that was used to spoof email from an eBay seller. We know because we were contacted by the FBI. Needless to say, the server is no longer open.
Here's what the Serbian hackers were/are up to.
They place an ad on eBay for an item at a very attractive price. When they make a sale, they choose a valid credit card number from their list whose owner lives within 100 miles of the buyer. They place an order for the item using the purloined credit card number and have it drop-shipped to the buyer. The purchase meets with the buyer's approval, and he makes payment by PayPal.
A few weeks later the cops arrest the buyer for using a stolen credit card. It takes a while for them to figure out what is going on before the buyer is cleared.
That's what eBay is trying to stop.
We must be alert to the danger that public policy could become captive to a scientific-technological elite. - Eisenhower
All the more reason to use alternative auction houses.
Indeed. I've had pretty good luck with Auction Fire, not so good with BidWay. Both are much smaller than ebay, so you get far fewer buyers for your stuff. The first seems like it's getting better while the second seems to be dying...
What other ones are out there? The problem here is that being a monopoly is a very good thing -- maximize the number of buyers for your sellers and maximize selection for buyers. So the old 'competition is always good' doesn't really apply here. If there's a lot of competition, you may get better auction sites, but they'll all have the liability of not having as much of a potential audience as ebay. Too bad ebay is now abusing their virtual monopoly.