It ain’t easy being free and they don’t have to complicate matters like they do when the message provides a noumenon heads up.
https://x.com/Banned_Bill/status/1853842945767592429
On the other hand… an update.
Yesterday, November 5, 2024, a day, I think, that will live a very longtime in most American’s memories as one of our narrowest escapes from the clutches of evil in our Nation’s 248 years of existence and of which I am certain most of US gave thanks for the outcome; and yet, on November 6, mere hours after our deliverance from the democrat’s version of durance vile, having run smack dab into one of the many vestiges of the impact from the political crime families Twentieth Century efforts to deconstruct US into a police state , I thought connecting the two recent experiences of mine in the span of 23 hours split unevenly between yesterday and today would be insightful.
It began yesterday when I received an emailed notification I was expecting but didn’t want. It was a notice of a substack resubscription I tried to head off last week when I received a reminder it was a week away.
It turns out substack makes it difficult to cancel subscriptions. They use a circular route to nowhere with no human available to interface as a last resort.
I contacted capital one to request they block payment and was told I would have to let the sale go through and then contact capital one to cancel payment. That’s the way they do it these days or so the guy said.
So I waited until I got the notice yesterday from George Webb thanking me for subscribing. In that email there was a link included if I wanted to cancel the deal which I took full advantage of until I saw it just lead to a page of his many work efforts and no place to cancel. It reminded me of my short lived career selling craftmatic beds of long, long ago. Oy!
Having no luck cancelling directly I turned once again to capital one. An hour long story shortened for my well being resulted in my card being cancelled by ‘Leonard’ who spoke reasonably good english with an occasional lapse into indistinguishable phrases and a hair trigger card cancelling button. At the end of the hour after contact was lost with Leonard because he couldn’t understand my flip phone was not capable of accessing his texted security message and maintaining voice contact at the same time, I called back and this time talked with Mae who followed the same capone script as Leonard and evidently didn’t understand my resistance to doing the same thing that resulted in the broken connection that hopefully proved to Leonard the inadequacy of an eight year old flip phone in the hands of a dinosaur. I bid farewell to Mae to avoid having my head explode.
On to Part Two.
That flip phone which I rarely even turn on was on the shelf behind me buzzing this morning. I forgot to turn it off and it’s a good thing because it was T-Mobile texting me I’d better make other arrangements to pay them today because my credit card isn’t responding to their tapping efforts.
I ended going up to their store because eight years ago my email address, which I shared with T-mobile went to cryptoheaven and hasn’t been accessible for four or five years, maybe, and I couldn’t pay t-mobile online because their security required information no longer available. So I’m in the store, I already explained to the clerk I was there to pay a bill.
I was asked to provide the number of the flip phone I was holding in my hand and I did; then I was asked to provide identification. I showed him my cc permit issued by Michigan. He wouldn’t accept it. It had to be my driver’s license. Why? Because he had to scan it. Why are you going to scan it? I’m here to pay a bill.
It’s policy.
I said goodbye.
As I was driving home I was considering how if I wanted to by some bourbon, me a seventy six year old male would have to show ID. Now, they’re not only asking for ID when I pay a phone bill, they want to scan it.
Bureaucracy gone wild.
From https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/privacy-notices/biometric-privacy-notice
Overview
T‑Mobile cares about the security of your personal information and wants to protect you and us against fraud. Where permitted by law, T‑Mobile and our contractors (“we”, “us”) use ID scanning and facial recognition technology to verify your identity and safeguard personal information as part of our security and fraud prevention efforts. This notice describes our collection and use of biometric data for these security and fraud prevention purposes.
When we refer to “biometric data,” we mean information about your physical or biological characteristics (some states call these “biometric identifiers”) that identify you. Information like eye, hand, or face scans; fingerprints; and voiceprints may be considered biometric data if they are being used to identify you. The definitions of biometric data vary under different states’ laws. For example, some states’ biometric laws don’t apply to driver’s license photos. Photos of you are not biometric data, but biometric data can be made from processing the photo.
Why we collect, share, and store your biometric data
T‑Mobile will not collect, use, or store your biometric data without your consent. Also, T‑Mobile will not sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from your biometric data. We will only disclose your biometric data or share the data with our contractors to provide the products or services you request. When a valid legal request is made, we may also share the biometric data with law enforcement.
When you consent to the creation and use of your biometric data through ID scan or other processes for identity verification or fraud prevention purposes, we will keep your biometric data for up to one year after you terminate your relationship with T‑Mobile. However, if we determine that a transaction may involve fraud, we may keep the biometric data and supporting information longer, as the law allows.
T‑Mobile will store, transmit, and protect your biometric data using the same degree of reasonable care as for similar confidential and sensitive information.
Bonus https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-436-1701
I will be in touch with the recently elected Republican legislator. We’ll see how serious the Republicans are about dismantling the bureaucratic power structure inflicting themselves on our liberties for their convenience.
Or he’ll explain the rules of the New World Order as it applies to T-Mobil customers and an elderly consumer of bourbon who hasn’t had a taste in more than a few years.