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This question asked if websites on which one is transacting have their payment information and from the replies it seems that they do (or at least their payment gateway service providers do). But my question is if a website (Twitter, specifically) can use the payment information they have to know if multiple users have used the same credit/debit card to buy multiple subscriptions (Twitter blue subscriptions, specifically) and that there's no kind of encryption in play that deprives them of this ability?

I guess one could use multiple virtual credit card numbers linked to one account and bypass any effort to find the multiple subscriptions bought from a single credit card but my question is limited to if they can figure out duplicates given one wasn't using virtual credit card numbers.

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  • To use the credit card you usually have to input the name on the card, so... yes, they know.
    – ThoriumBR
    Nov 7, 2022 at 23:19
  • @ThoriumBR Firstly, even though I've not read any official documents regarding this but it's possible that some payment processors don't require you to provide the name. Secondly, multiple people can have the same name, so it is not a good qualifier for segregating subscribers by credit cards. Nov 7, 2022 at 23:40
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    It's unlikely that multiple people have the same name AND credit card number...
    – ThoriumBR
    Nov 8, 2022 at 2:00
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    Also, multiple people can have the same credit card - my spouse and I have cards in our own names but the same number on them. If both the name and number match, you're pretty safe in assuming it's the same person who owns that account, but that still doesn't mean that someone else didn't get ahold of the card (legitimately or fraudulently) and is using it.
    – Bobson
    Nov 8, 2022 at 3:17

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If you pay per credit card then they have the credit card information. They can also know what the credit card is used for - buying a blue subscription. They also need to have the association of this subscription to the user.

So, they have the data to find out if the same credit card is used for buying multiple subscriptions to different users. This does not mean though that they use the data for this purpose, only that they could.

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  • Thanks for clarifying. And you're sure that there's no kind of encryption in play that deprives them of this ability? Nov 7, 2022 at 23:28
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    @TheReal_Skywalker - That just goes back to the question you linked. If the site has the card data, then there's nothing to stop them - what you type in is what they have. If the site doesn't have the card data, because it's been outsourced to someone to handle the sensitive data for them, then it's entirely up to how and what that solution provider exposes.
    – Bobson
    Nov 8, 2022 at 3:15

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