You’ve heard of Facebook.

You’ve heard of Twitter.

And now, you’re going to hear about Blippy.

Blippy is a social networking site (of course!) where:

1. You give them all your credit card numbers
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2. Then every time you buy something…
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3. …Blippy automatically announces your purchase to all your Facebook friends and all your Twitter followers.

Just as an FYI:

Blippy had a little privacy problem over the weekend…

…and they ended up publishing the full credit card numbers of five of their members, in addition to their purchases.

And now that you know about Blippy, does the whole idea of the site:

(a) FASCINATE you?

(b) DISGUST you?

(c) TERRIFY you?

In my humble opinion, ( c ) is the right answer, and here’s why:

• Announcing your every purchase to the world while you shop is an invitation to trouble…

…after all, do you really want your mother, your significant other, your boss, your co-workers and all the troubled teens in your neighborhood to know exactly how much great stuff you have?

• When you give your credit card to a merchant, you are guaranteed some protections by law…

…but do you get the same guarantees when you give your credit card numbers to Blippy?

I’m not an attorney, so I don’t know the answer…and I bet very few people who have turned their credit cards over to Blippy know the answer either.

• I am reasonably sure my bank and credit card company employ a large team of people to fight against hackers and to keep their records safe.

Do banks and credit card companies sometimes fail to protect the data, anyway?

Yes

But knowing that makes me even more nervous about a service like Blippy…

…because how big could THEIR team of data-protectors be?

1 person? Two people? Three people?

If banks and credit card companies can’t always protect your data with their deep pockets…

…how safe are you going to be with a newbie, unregulated site like Blippy?

• Sites like Blippy wear down your common sense.

It’s just like Mom and Dad always said:

Just because everyone else is doing it…

…doesn’t mean it’s a smart thing to do.

There are limits to how much info about yourself you should share publically with others…

…and if Blippy doesn’t push things to the limit, then it’s certainly pushing us toward the edge.

Or at least that’s my two cents about Blippy…

…even though that may be more than I should share publically about myself.

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