When we talk about privacy enhancing technologies we often immediately jump to talking about encryption methods and DRM technologies and instance based access controls. But sometimes we forget about techniques for minimizing data disclosure. I know I’m guilty of this. I’d much rather debate the pros and cons of various policy expression languages!

I was reminded about data minimization recently when I tried for the first time a service from my credit card company, virtual credit card numbers. With so many people experiencing credit card fraud online, I’m surprised more people aren’t using virtual credit card numbers. They are a great way to minimize the disclosures of your real credit card to others. So I thought I’d share my experience with the service so far.

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