Amazon and Chase are not going to give me a direct answer on what they do with my credit card data

Whenever I go out to dinner with a group of friends and divide the check, many people end up throwing those heavy slate gray credit cards carrying the Amazon smiley arrow.

Almost everyone I know has the Amazon Prime Credit Card because it's badociated with a killer reward program, especially if you're an Amazon Prime member: five points for every dollar spent at Amazon and Whole Foods and two points for most dollars spent elsewhere. . There are many "co-branded" cards for other retailers, all airlines, hotels and even sports teams – but considering the frequency with which we all buy products on Amazon, which would represent 50% of Set online business in America, we would be crazy not to use it. Many of us use the Amazon card for all our purchases, on and off Amazon. But what is the cost for our privacy?

For an experiment I did recently, removing Amazon from my life, I wanted to know exactly what Amazon is learning about me when I use Chase's Amazon Rewards Visa Signature card. I have consulted the cardholder agreement and the privacy policy of the latter, but I have not said it. So I asked Amazon and Chase Bank. Disturbingly, no company would tell me exactly.

People are worried about the amount of data they know about Google and Facebook, but Amazon craves more and more incredible amounts of data about people, so he knows if you are friends with the person whose book or product you are reading. Amazon already knows what we are buying on Amazon and Whole Foods. And if he knows what we buy everywhere else? Knowing what everyone buys every day is a powerful tool for predicting future behavior and monetizing it further (as other tech giants know). Amazon could use information about what customers buy from other companies to better compete with these companies and strengthen its hold on the US economy.

So, what does Amazon learn about me when I use this card?

Amazon spokesperson Andrea Ruge phoned me to understand exactly what I wanted to know and said she would answer me. Then, after sending some emails asking me if she had any information for me, she replied, "Apologies for the delay. I have nothing to share regarding your question regarding the Chase Card below. "

I was surprised and upset that Amazon could not answer a question that is neither particularly difficult nor unreasonable: what does Amazon discover about people who have an Amazon Prime credit card?

Chase is the issuing bank, so it's the controlling party. I sent some emails to the bank's spokeswoman, Mary Jane Rogers, before receiving an answer. She sent me confidential information about the cards that the bank issued and apologized. "Sorry, it's as accurate as I can share," she wrote in an email that even left me more afraid of what Amazon knows about me.

Rogers said that it would interest me the most "and stuck it in the email:

I asked what category corresponds to a "co-brand partner", which is the official designation of Amazon. Was it an "affiliate" who obtained "information about your transactions and experiences" personal information whose "sharing" could not be limited?

"Yes, I'm sure it's this one," said Rogers.

So I sent Ruge another e-mail asking if it was true that Amazon was receiving information about my "transactions and experiences", which I mean by everything I buy with the card and the amount I spent, which gives Amazon an overview of the expenditures made by people outside of Amazon.

"Since we do not comment on rumors and speculation, there is not a ton that I can provide here," said Ruge. "However, I can tell you that we are not an" affiliate "Chase [sic] and these details are inaccurate. Unfortunately, that's all I can share for the moment. "

Ok, but that's what Chase, the supposed Amazon partner, told me. I replied, expressing my frustration.

Rightly arguing for the definition of "member" on Chase's page, which defines it as a company owned or controlled by JPMorgan Chase, Ruge said that was not what Amazon is. She said that my badumptions about the information that Amazon was getting were inaccurate. "Unfortunately, I can not share anything other than that," she concluded.

I had more ease getting information from a spy agency. I turned to credit card experts for help. They were all perplexed too.

The National Consumer Law Center has stated that data sharing agreements between credit card companies are private and only companies can tell me. Other experts have said the same thing.

"The exchange of information between AMZ and JPM would be part of their contract and information that I would not know," said US Consumer Affairs Director Pirg Ed Mierzwinski.

Ted Rossman, an badyst at Creditcards.com, was also bewildered. "I guess they use a lot of data," he speculated.

Rossman pointed to a blogger, Finance Buff, who, he said, "used to work with co-branded cards," writes: "The co-branded partner also receives aggregated data from the issuer on customer demographics and their data. purchase behavior. The data helps the partner to market its products. "

But when I got in touch with the finance bazaar, Harry Sit, too, had no idea of ​​the data that Amazon has.

It was a very unsatisfactory quest for answer, but there is one thing to remember: if you have the Amazon Prime Chase card and you're worried that Amazon will get more data about you, use it only to buy Amazon products and Whole Foods. Amazon knows what you are buying in both cases.