Twitter Account Re-Tweets Public Photos of Peoples’ Debit Cards
While over-sharing online typically involves annoying-but-harmless pictures of food on Instagram, it’s interesting to consider whether compulsive social media use or sheer thoughtlessness is to blame for the contents of @NeedADebitCard, a Twitter account that aggregates publicly tweeted photos of peoples’ debit and ATM cards. While some of the photos are blurry or cropped, many clearly display the full names and account details, and in some cases even addresses, of their owners. Several posts proudly show expired or damaged cards being cut in half, their owners presumably believing, for whatever reason, that to be sufficient in deterring thieves. The absence of the card’s three-digit security code, usually located on the back, is also not a guarantee that the owner’s account will remain secure.
There’s no magic behind it, obviously: most of the account’s retweets, sourced largely from kids and young adults, can be found with a quick public search on Twitter for “debit card + instagr.am,” suggesting it’s meant to be a wake-up call for anyone with delusions about online privacy. The account, whose byline implores “Please quit posting pictures of your debit cards, people,”
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