I think Sam’s Club has always been membership only . Also the Upside Gas requires some membership in Google , Facebook and some other thing that I don’t have or want.
I am not worried about Microsoft as much as Facebook which is my #1 concern since this is just a completely crooked company to the core and doesn’t care one bit about user safety if they can make a fraction of a penny from you. Google is my #2 concern. Basically I am not doing anything illegal so I am not paranoid but don’t want targeted ads, most of them being scams, constantly popping up. Brave and DuckDuckGo seem to do well but I might look into startpages as well. My issue with some of the alternate searches is that they don’t really perform searches all that well. Sometimes I have to switch over to Google, especially when mapping a location as their maps seem better than any other provider.
I was once looking up the latest GoPro action camera and used Chrome at that time. I was targeted with scam ads for GoPros selling for $49 and $99 for the next month or so. Facebook is the worst with their “sponsored” ads which are almost all scams these days. I would report them but nothing would happen of course. The names were like Pro.Go, GopPro, etc. just to trick those who weren’t aware. I reported to FB and got the message that they thanked me for my concern but the ad didn’t violate “community standards.” The best bet is to forward the scam ad to the company being copy catted like GoPro. This works well for big companies with legal teams like Amazon and Wal-Mart but the little guys don’t stand a chance at fighting this.
Facebook is fully aware of the problem but profits so employees have been directed to look the other way. Facebook Profits As Users Are Ripped Off By Scam Ads
Of course while we are on the topic of gas prices, I have been seeing lots of scams for “gasoline giveaways” as well on social media. These just collect information on people to further target them with scams. Unfortunately these “giveaways” lure in suckers extremely effectively even though they are an old scam that has been done many times. HOAX: This website purporting to be Shell and offering prizes is a scam | by PesaCheck | PesaCheck
I would guess the Upside app tracks your location. I removed all social media apps after getting a friend suggestion for a guy sitting next to me at a bar once. Apparently they knew we were both there and thought we might be friends.
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It might depend on the state where you reside. A lot of folks in NJ (including me) had assumed that some sort of state statute prohibited membership as a prerequisite for gas purchases, but we must be wrong because I seriously doubt if Costco would be changing their policy if it wasn’t legally possible.
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I’m a little behind in understanding all this I guess. Last year the county Register of Deeds started a service to notify you if there were any deed change attempts. I signed up for it but you had to have a Google account for it to work. I have no idea why they couldn’t just send an email. I’m sure I wrote the password down some place. Regardless of the ads, I still find it absurd that property could be fraudulently sold out from under you with no recourse.
A lot of new products now require an “account” be setup, usually with a credit card linked. This has been the case with many newer printers that WILL NOT WORK without an account being setup. Of course they want to monitor the ink levels and sell you ink automatically when you start to get low, etc. This drives me nuts and is one reason I haven’t bothered to replace a pretty old printer that still works but is getting cranky. I am hoping commercial units are not locked down like this just yet.
I saw a post here about some new car requiring subscriptions for basic features built into the car. Basically you had to pay a monthly or yearly fee to be able to unlock your doors with a key fob or something like that. I can understand services like OnStar but this was taking it an extra step too far. I would be pissed to buy a new car, only to find out it wasn’t really mine and that I had to pay a subscription to keep certain features built into the hardware from being turned off in software.
I forgot what the features on the car were but they were all convenience/luxury features. I guess that is one way to make all cars the same to simplify manufacturing and then recoup the costs on those willing to pay.
I don’t get why the county needs you to have a Google account for your deed. Maybe they are paying for services provided by Google on the back end via some cloud service and this just makes things easier.
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Didn’t cost me anything but just had to sign up. Maybe it went Google mail or something. No idea how to access that so maybe the new owners of my house will be moving in.
Ok I think this was covered by someone already!!
It seems more complicated:
> Wireless transmission
**> **
> In parallel to the actual voice call, the ALI database gets periodically updated with more precise and recent location information.[6] Cellular networks can determine a more precise location of the caller’s device by using triangulation from the cell towers (radiolocation). In addition to triangulation, a second source of location information may be the caller’s phone itself (or other cellular device).
**> **
> Many phones manufactured after 2005 have GPS receivers built in.[9] When the cellular phone detects that the user is placing an emergency call, it begins to transmit its location to a secure server, from which the PSAP can retrieve it. Cellphone manufacturers may program the phone to automatically enable GPS functionality (if disabled) when an emergency call is placed, so that it may transmit its location.[10]
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The problem is there are things which are not officially illegal, but big brother and big corporations don’t want people doing them. For instance, if you looking up how to import and sell tires with rubber that last longer than 10 years, your searches might get flagged for review. They they would try to see to it that your business of importing tires fails and their monopoly is preserved. You might get a surprise IRS audit.
Whaaaaat???
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I see the SNOMAN is spouting nonsense again. 
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Let’s not kid ourselves here. If something sounds too good to be true, it must be. And if a company is spending literally millions of dollars to bombard the public with advertising for its product or service, then it must be making money off of that product or service somehow.
The fact that so much money is being spent to flood the airwaves with ads for Upside tells me that it’s got to be a scam, plain and simple. I don’t need an app to “earn” cash back on fuel purchases because I can do that myself. I use a credit card which provides reward points on every dollar I spend, and I shop around to find the lowest price for everything I buy. I am well aware that in the city where I live, the price of regular unleaded gasoline varies by approximately 30 cents per gallon (at similarly-branded stations) depending on location, so naturally I fill my personal vehicles, and my work truck where it’s cheaper.
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Well there is nary a price difference here. At the grocery I get asked if I am a fuel saver. I say no. At Mobil, I’m asked if I’m a rewards member. I punch no. Doesn’t bother me in the least. I don’t buy my gas at the grocery, and don’t use my Mobil credit card at the Mobil station.
According to lehto’s law, the post office is saying not to mail checks due to theft problems. They say to use a credit card. But then how are you supposed to pay the credit card? Oh yeah, on line where your card number got into a huge data base subject to hacking. Can’t win but saving a couple cents on purchases is the least of my concerns.