"We do not receive your credit card or personal information when you donate"

[~Martin~]

The main donation page (https://www.donation...om/Donate/index.html) says :-

"All donations are processed securely by trusted financial services. We do not receive your credit card or personal information when you donate, and we will not share your email with anyone."

But I just arranged a donation via PayPal (using a credit card, not a PayPal Account), and the name on the credit card (which was not used anywhere else during the process) was received by DonationCoder.com, as it was included within the confirmation email from [email protected]

Moreover, the same name now appears as part of the non-expiring supporting member 'License Key', and is 'branded' into the DC software (i.e. in the Help/About section).

I think this raises two issues. Firstly, the name on the credit card is certainly both "credit card" and "personal" information, and so ought to be specifically excluded from the misleading assurance quoted above, as a matter of principle. (I appreciate that 'not receive credit card information' is probably intended to cover the type/number/ccv number (and presumably billing address?), but it's evidently ambiguous).

Secondly, on a practical matter, the credit card or PayPal Account holder need not be the same as the joining/supporting member (people have partners, family, friends, employers, etc., who might pay on their behalf, for many legitimate reasons), and 'forcing' that name into the DC system seems inappropriate, especially without prior notice.

Nothing said here is meant to impugn the integrity or privacy intentions of DC, of course. And it's more a surprise and irritation to me, personally, than a privacy concern. But I think that either the system, or the disclosure, could stand some improvement.

~Martin~

[mouser]

Hi Martin,

I can shed some light on this and offer some more info as well.

We don't receive any credit card information but paypal tells us your *paypal* registered name and email address.
Sometimes in fact this can cause some issues because quite a few people haven't used their paypal account in so long that their email address is no longer valid.

For people who truly want to be anonymous, the amazon.com alternate method of donating (see here) is completely anonymous, which makes things strange since I then need you to contact me to tell me you donated and the transaction id, etc so i can send you a license key and forum membership.

Now back to this comment:

Secondly, on a practical matter, the credit card or PayPal Account holder need not be the same as the joining/supporting member (people have partners, family, friends, employers, etc., who might pay on their behalf, for many legitimate reasons), and 'forcing' that name into the DC system seems inappropriate, especially without prior notice.

100% true and i completely agree.  When you donate the server mails you a license key made out to the name+email from your paypal, which is what you got.  But this is really just as a convenience to donators so they have a license key right away.

You can use the forum upgrade/activation code you get when you donate to upgrade any account on the forum to full supporter status -- it doesn't have to be in any way related to the paypal account, and you can give it to a friend as a gift, etc.  Then once the account is upgraded on the forum and recognized as a supporting member, that person can go to the license key page on the forum (https://www.donation...r.com/Keys/index.php) and a new key will be created specifically for that forum account (with the forum account name and email address).

There may also be cases where you may want a specific name/email on your license key about box and don't want it to say your forum information.  In this case, see item #4 in the original email you get when you donate, it says "4)Should you wish a different name for your license, just email us." 

ps.
due to popular request, there is also a way to get special license keys if you are a time traveler: https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=1413.0

[~Martin~]

Hi Mouser,

We don't receive any credit card information but paypal tells us your *paypal* registered name and email address.
Sometimes in fact this can cause some issues because quite a few people haven't used their paypal account in so long that their email address is no longer valid.

-mouser (September 25, 2007, 10:02 PM)

Though you actually don't need to have a PayPal account in order to use PayPal with a credit card, and indeed I don't have one. (The PayPal page to which DC links includes a PayPal login box for any existing account, and after you complete a non-account transaction they encourage you to 'instantly' create an account using the data you've just input, but both are entirely optional).

So if you only use a credit card, and not a PayPal account, then evidently PayPal send you the credit card account name, and email address, input at the time of the transaction.

For people who truly want to be anonymous, the amazon.com alternate method of donating (see here) is completely anonymous, which makes things strange since I then need you to contact me to tell me you donated and the transaction id, etc so i can send you a license key and forum membership.

Which is fine (albeit at greater deduction of fees from you), if people already know that they need to use that for an anonymous alternative. As your privacy disclaimer presently stands, the credit-card-via-PayPal method is less private than it appears to be. So I still think it could do with some clarification, so that potential donors are better informed about their options, beforehand.

You can use the forum upgrade/activation code you get when you donate to upgrade any account on the forum to full supporter status -- it doesn't have to be in any way related to the paypal account, and you can give it to a friend as a gift, etc.  Then once the account is upgraded on the forum and recognized as a supporting member, that person can go to the license key page on the forum (https://www.donation...r.com/Keys/index.php) and a new key will be created specifically for that forum account (with the forum account name and email address).

Perfect! 

There may also be cases where you may want a specific name/email on your license key about box and don't want it to say your forum information.  In this case, see item #4 in the original email you get when you donate, it says "4)Should you wish a different name for your license, just email us." 

How is anyone supposed to see that, if you put it right there under their noses? 

Still, putting that Keys link in the email too, might be helpful (at least for anyone smart enough to read the email before complaining ...)

ps. due to popular request, there is also a way to get special license keys if you are a time traveler: https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=1413.0

 

[mouser]

good ideas, all.
i will make a note on the donate page that people who wish to remain anonymous should use amazon, and i'll add a line about the keys page in the email.

[~Martin~]

Thanks for the extra info, and the responsiveness.