Do you use the guest checkout option when you buy online because you’re worried about giving out your personal data? A new UK study by Empathy.co found 22 percent (roughly 1 in 4) of 4,000 British shoppers surveyed use guest checkouts because they don’t trust retailers with their personal data and want more control.

A March 2020 US survey of 1,000 US shoppers, conducted just before COVID-19 forced masses more people online, found 82 percent of respondents would never enter their personal data on an unverified website over fraud concerns. The same study showed 56 percent of respondents were more worried about fraud than privacy. 

Both findings point to widespread consumer concerns about who has their personal data, what they’re doing with it, and the potential impacts on their privacy and safety from data misuse and abuse.

We know US consumers are concerned about privacy and safety online. A Pew Research 2019 study reported 81 percent of Americans believe widespread data collection and data-driven products and services pose more risks than benefits. Eighty-seven percent of a 2020 McKinsey survey said they’d not do business with companies where they had doubts over data safety, and 71 percent said they would stop doing business with a company if it gave away sensitive data without permission.

Since we’re all shopping online a lot more in this COVID-19 world, we need to find ways to better protect our personal data. Guest checkouts are one option, and only shopping with trusted brands is another. But there is a significantly better way. Enter MySudo.

Go shopping with MySudo

One of the most popular ways to use MySudo is for shopping. You can use a Sudo profile to shop for a gift, a holiday deal, even a house!

MySudo is the only app on the market that offers private and secure phone, email, browsing and payments all in one place, accessed via Sudos—secure digital profiles that work as real, alternatives to your personal identity. 

Learn how to use MySudo in 90 seconds.

Shopping with MySudo means you can get the special deals without the spam, and privately and securely browse and buy.

You could use a Shopping Sudo to privately:

• Create online store accounts
• Get coupons, offers and rewards
• Research products
• Checkout and pay. 

Here’s the set-up in 7 simple steps:

1. Download the app in iOS or Android.
2. Create a Shopping Sudo. 
3. Add a name. Choose the name you’ll use when shopping. It can be your own or an alias. Use this name in emails, online orders and merchant communications. 
4. Add an email address. You’ll use this dedicated email to open store accounts, sign up for deals and discounts, and communicate with online merchants. 
5. Add a phone number. Subscribe to a plan to add a phone number to your Sudo. Use it to make and receive calls and messages. It’s good for opening store accounts, receiving shipping updates, and calling customer service. 
6. Use the private browser assigned to your Shopping Sudo to privately browse products. Search for what you want without ads and pop-ups.
7. When you’ve found the perfect product, privately and securely check out using a MySudo virtual card. A MySudo virtual card is like a financial avatar. It goes online in place of you and your personal credit or debit card and completes transactions without leaving your personal information. It protects your privacy and limits your financial risk. Find out why your MySudo virtual card is more private than your bank’s virtual card.

That’s it. You don’t have to check out as a guest when you’re powerfully in control of the personal data you enter into an online shopping site. 

And we haven’t even told you the best bit: MySudo is built on the concept of compartmentalization, the most powerful data protection strategy in the world. In our digital lives, compartmentalization really means ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’. Instead, categorize and separate your personal data into many different compartments to reduce the impact when it is compromised. Compartmentalization recognizes no system is perfect, breaches are always possible, so it’s wise to manage the risk. You might lose an egg or two, but you won’t lose them all. By creating and managing nine separate Sudo profiles in the app, MySudo makes compartmentalizing your personal data simple. 

Photo By insta_photos