While the GOP and their Fuhrer continue to body-slam America, here’s an example of the little insidious ways they’re spying on people and attempting to weed out immigrants:
Suddenly, Bank of America credit card holders who bank online –there’s no way to tell whether all or some of them — are being asked to update their personal information before they can proceed to pay a bill. The screen offers no explanation for this.
The questions include:
Do you have dual citizenship?
Is the name on your credit card your legal name?
If the name on your credit card isn’t your legal name, you are required to go to a Bank of America center and produce a government-issued photo ID that has your legal name on it. If you want to change the name on your card to your legal name, be prepared for a rigmarole. And what if you use a nickname all the time? Does Ted now have to change his name on the credit card to Theodore? Does Kathy have to drop that and become Katherine?
According to a customer service representative, these “updates” are required by “a new Federal law.” No announcement of this was made by Bank of America to its credit card holders. Most likely the other credit card companies are proceeding in the same sneaky way. And of course, no announcement of this law was made by the government. Chances are it was buried in some other completely unrelated bill. They figured no one would notice, or care, or understand the larger implications.
This isn’t just an annoyance. It’s blackmail — the equivalent of having a microchip implanted so the federal government can keep track of you.
Note: What if you have dual citizenship with Mexico or “one of those shithole countries”?
This may seem like just a mosquito bite, compared to the atrocities Trump’s GOP is perpetrating on the world, but it’s the thin end of yet another wedge. This is the kind of thing attorneys general may be able to fight — although they’re pretty busy right now — especially if this law covers a lot more than credit cards.
It might be worth a try dropping Eric Schneiderman a note.