CHEAP GIFT CARDS: There’s another gift card buying/selling site out there called Raise.com which we hadn’t previously heard of. Through the end of today only, you can get $10 off a $130 purchase of already-discounted gift cards using the promo code MOM10. (Thanks, Slickdeals)
TATOOS FOR MONEY AND BURRITOS: We touched on the topic of tattoos-for-pay not too long ago, but now a New York realtor has offered its employees a 15% pay raise for getting tattooed with the company logo–and 40 employees have taken up their employer on the offer. According to the article, “There are no size or location restrictions.” Hopefully somebody will follow up on this story in about five years and see how everybody feels about their tattoos.
If real estate isn’t your game, no worries. You can get free burritos for life by getting the logo of San Francisco-based Casa Sanchez tattooed somewhere on your body. (Thanks, FWF)
MARK CUBAN’S HORRIBLE BOSSES: Dallas Mavericks owners Mark Cuban has a nice story in Forbes Life about a couple of horrible bosses he’s had:
I started something called the “Rookie Club.” I’d invite senior executives to a happy hour to talk to a group of younger employees in their 20s like me. Then I went a little further. I started writing a newsletter. I did updates on current projects. I tried to inject a little humor. I thought my boss would love me for doing these things.
Instead, my boss called me into his office one day and ripped me a new one. “Who the f— do you think you are?” he yelled. I told him I was trying to help Mellon make more money. He told me I was never to go over him or around him, or he’d crush me. I knew then it was time to get out of there.
It’s a good read, the whole thing’s here.
PRIVACY FOLLOW-UP: We wrote yesterday about whether credit card companies can tell what you’re buying, but more generally, how much of your personal information is accessible to others? As it turns out, pretty much everything:
They start with the basics, like names, addresses and contact information, and add on demographics, like age, race, occupation and “education level,” according to consumer data firm Acxiom’s overview of its various categories.
But that’s just the beginning: The companies collect lists of people experiencing “life-event triggers” like getting married, buying a home, sending a kid to college — or even getting divorced.
Credit reporting giant Experian has a separate marketing services division, which sells lists of “names of expectant parents and families with newborns” that are “updated weekly.”
The companies also collect data about your hobbies and many of the purchases you make. Want to buy a list of people who read romance novels? Epsilon can sell you that, as well as a list of people who donate to international aid charities.
A subsidiary of credit reporting company Equifax even collects detailed salary and paystub information for roughly 38 percent of employed Americans, as NBC news reported. As part of handling employee verification requests, the company gets the information directly from employers.
Equifax said in a statement that the information is only sold to customers “who have been verified through a detailed credentialing process.” It added that if a mortgage company or other lender wants to access information about your salary, they must obtain your permission to do so.
But that’s not all, not even close–read the whole article to find out what else is out there.
Have a great weekend!
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