---
title: Private Payments
icon: material/hand-coin
description: Your buying habits are the holy grail of ad targeting, but you still have plenty of options when it comes to making payments privately.
---

Data about your buying habits is considered the holy grail of ad targeting: Your purchases can leak a veritable treasure trove of data about you. Sayangnya, sistem keuangan saat ini dirancang antiprivasi, sehingga memungkinkan bank, perusahaan lain, dan pemerintah untuk melacak transaksi dengan mudah. Namun demikian, Anda memiliki banyak pilihan untuk melakukan pembayaran secara pribadi.

## Uang Tunai

Selama berabad-abad, **uang tunai** telah berfungsi sebagai bentuk utama pembayaran pribadi. Cash has excellent privacy properties in most cases, is widely accepted in most countries, and is **fungible**, meaning it is non-unique and completely interchangeable.

Undang-undang pembayaran tunai bervariasi menurut negara. In the United States, special disclosure is required for cash payments over $10,000 to the IRS on [Form 8300](https://irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/form-8300-and-reporting-cash-payments-of-over-10000). Bisnis penerima wajib memverifikasi nama, alamat, pekerjaan, tanggal lahir, dan Nomor Jaminan Sosial atau NPWP penerima (dengan beberapa pengecualian). Regulated exchanges, banks, and money services businesses must collect an ID for transactions exceeding $3,000. Cash contains serial numbers to assist law enforcement in targeted investigations.

Despite the above, cash is typically the best option when available.

## Kartu Prabayar & Kartu Hadiah

You can easily purchase gift cards and prepaid cards at most grocery stores and convenience stores with cash. Kartu hadiah biasanya tidak dikenakan biaya, meskipun kartu prabayar sering kali dikenakan biaya, jadi perhatikan baik-baik biaya dan tanggal kedaluwarsanya. Some stores may ask to see your ID at checkout in an effort to reduce fraud.

Kartu hadiah biasanya memiliki batas hingga $200 per kartu, tetapi ada juga yang menawarkan batas hingga $2.000 per kartu. Prepaid cards (e.g. from Visa or Mastercard) usually have limits of up to $1,000 per card.

Kartu hadiah memiliki sisi negatif karena tunduk pada kebijakan merchant, yang dapat memiliki persyaratan dan batasan yang buruk. Misalnya, beberapa penjual tidak menerima pembayaran dengan kartu hadiah secara eksklusif, atau mereka mungkin membatalkan nilai kartu jika mereka menganggap Anda sebagai pengguna berisiko tinggi. Setelah Anda memiliki kredit penjual, penjual memiliki tingkat kontrol yang kuat atas kredit ini.

Prepaid cards usually don’t allow cash withdrawals from ATMs or “peer-to-peer” payments in Venmo and similar apps.

Uang tunai tetap menjadi pilihan terbaik untuk pembelian secara langsung bagi kebanyakan orang. Gift cards are often sold at a discount, which make them attractive. Kartu prabayar dapat berguna untuk tempat-tempat yang tidak menerima uang tunai. Kartu hadiah dan kartu prabayar lebih mudah digunakan secara daring daripada uang tunai, dan lebih mudah diperoleh dengan mata uang kripto daripada uang tunai.

### Pasar Daring

Jika Anda memiliki [mata uang kripto](../cryptocurrency.md), Anda dapat membeli kartu hadiah dengan pasar kartu hadiah daring. Some of these services offer high limits (with ID verification), but they usually allow basic, low-limit accounts with just an email address. Expect limits under $10,000 for basic accounts and significantly higher limits for ID verified accounts (if offered).

Saat membeli kartu hadiah secara daring, biasanya ada sedikit diskon. Kartu prabayar biasanya dijual secara daring dengan harga nominal atau dengan biaya. If you buy prepaid cards and gift cards with cryptocurrencies, you should strongly prefer to pay with Monero which provides strong privacy (more on this below). Membayar kartu hadiah dengan metode pembayaran yang dapat dilacak meniadakan manfaat yang dapat diberikan oleh kartu hadiah ketika dibeli dengan uang tunai atau Monero.

- [Pasar Kartu Hadiah Daring :material-arrow-right-drop-circle:](../financial-services.md#gift-card-marketplaces)

## Kartu Virtual

Cara lain untuk melindungi informasi Anda dari penjual daring adalah dengan menggunakan kartu virtual sekali pakai yang menyembunyikan informasi perbankan atau penagihan Anda yang sebenarnya. Hal ini terutama berguna untuk melindungi Anda dari pelanggaran data penjual, pelacakan yang kurang canggih atau korelasi pembelian oleh agen pemasaran, dan pencurian data daring. Mereka **tidak** membantu Anda dalam melakukan pembelian sepenuhnya secara anonim, dan mereka juga tidak menyembunyikan informasi apa pun dari lembaga perbankan itu sendiri. Lembaga keuangan biasa yang menawarkan kartu virtual tunduk pada undang-undang "Kenali Nasabah Anda" (KYC), yang berarti mereka mungkin memerlukan ID Anda atau informasi identifikasi lainnya.

- [Layanan Penyamaran Pembayaran yang Direkomendasikan :material-arrow-right-drop-circle:](../financial-services.md#payment-masking-services)

Ini cenderung menjadi pilihan yang baik untuk pembayaran berulang/langganan secara daring, sementara kartu hadiah prabayar lebih disukai untuk transaksi satu kali.

## Mata Uang Kripto

Mata uang kripto adalah bentuk mata uang digital yang dirancang untuk bekerja tanpa otoritas pusat seperti pemerintah atau bank. While *some* cryptocurrency projects can allow you to make private transactions online, many use a transparent blockchain which does not provide any transaction privacy. Cryptocurrencies also tend to be very volatile assets, meaning their value can change rapidly and significantly. Oleh karena itu, kami umumnya tidak menyarankan penggunaan mata uang kripto sebagai penyimpan nilai jangka panjang. If you decide to use cryptocurrency online, make sure you have a full understanding of its privacy aspects beforehand, and only purchase amounts which would not be disastrous to lose.

<div class="admonition danger" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Danger</p>

The vast majority of cryptocurrencies operate on a **transparent** blockchain, meaning that every transaction's details are public knowledge. This includes most well-known cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Transaksi dengan mata uang kripto ini tidak dapat dianggap sebagai transaksi pribadi dan tidak akan melindungi anonimitas Anda.

Selain itu, banyak atau bahkan sebagian besar mata uang kripto adalah penipuan. Lakukan transaksi dengan hati-hati hanya dengan proyek yang Anda percayai. Transactions are irreversible and do not include any consumer protections.

</div>

### Koin Privasi

Ada sejumlah proyek mata uang kripto yang bertujuan untuk memberikan privasi dengan membuat transaksi menjadi anonim. Kami menyarankan untuk menggunakan salah satu yang menyediakan anonimitas transaksi **secara bawaan** untuk menghindari kesalahan operasional.

- [Mata Uang Kripto yang Direkomendasikan :material-arrow-right-drop-circle:](../cryptocurrency.md#monero)

Koin privasi telah menjadi sasaran pengawasan yang semakin meningkat oleh badan-badan pemerintah. In 2020, [the IRS published a $625,000 bounty](https://forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2020/09/14/irs-will-pay-up-to-625000-if-you-can-crack-monero-other-privacy-coins/?sh=2e9808a085cc) for tools which can trace (at least to some extent) Bitcoin Lightning Network and/or Monero transactions. They ultimately [paid two companies](https://sam.gov/opp/5ab94eae1a8d422e88945b64181c6018/view) (Chainalysis and Integra Fec) a combined $1.25 million to further develop tools to do so. Due to the secrecy surrounding tools like these, ==none of these methods of tracing cryptocurrencies have been independently confirmed.== However, it is quite likely that tools which assist targeted investigations into private coin transactions exist, and that privacy coins in their current form only succeed in thwarting mass surveillance.

### Other Coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.)

The vast majority of cryptocurrency projects use a transparent blockchain, meaning that all transactions are both easily traceable and permanent. As such, we strongly discourage the use of most cryptocurrency for privacy-related reasons.

Anonymous transactions on a transparent blockchain are *theoretically* possible, and the Bitcoin wiki [gives one example of a "completely anonymous" transaction](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Privacy#Example_-_A_perfectly_private_donation). However, this example requires a complicated setup involving Tor and "solo-mining" a block to generate completely independent cryptocurrency, a practice which has not been practical (even for enthusiasts) for many years.

==Your best option is to avoid these cryptocurrencies entirely and stick with one which provides privacy by default.== Attempting to use other cryptocurrency is outside the scope of this site and strongly discouraged.

### Wallet Custody

With cryptocurrency there are two forms of wallets: custodial wallets and self-custody wallets. Custodial wallets are operated by centralized companies/exchanges, where the private key for your wallet is held by that company, and you can access them anywhere typically with a regular username and password. Self-custody wallets are wallets where you control and manage the private keys to access it. Assuming you keep your wallet's private keys secured and backed up, self-custody wallets provide greater security and censorship resistance over custodial wallets, because your cryptocurrency can't be stolen or frozen by a company with custody over your private keys. Key custody is especially important when it comes to privacy coins: Custodial wallets grant the operating company the ability to view your transactions, negating the privacy benefits of those cryptocurrencies.

### Acquisition

Acquiring [cryptocurrencies](../cryptocurrency.md) like Monero privately can be difficult. P2P marketplaces (platforms which facilitate trades between people) are one option, though the user experience typically suffers. If using an exchange which requires KYC is acceptable for you as long as subsequent transactions can't be traced, it's much easier to purchase Monero on a centralized exchange or purchase Bitcoin/Litecoin from a KYC exchange which can then be swapped for Monero. Then, you can withdraw the purchased Monero to your own self-custody wallet to use privately from that point forward.

[Recommended places to buy Monero](../cryptocurrency.md#buying-monero ""){.md-button}

If you go this route, make sure to purchase Monero at different times and in different amounts than where you will spend it. If you purchase $5000 of Monero at an exchange and make a $5000 purchase in Monero an hour later, those actions could potentially be correlated by an outside observer regardless of which path the Monero took. Staggering purchases and purchasing larger amounts of Monero in advance to later spend on multiple smaller transactions can avoid this pitfall.

## Additional Considerations

When you're making a payment in person with cash, make sure to keep your in-person privacy in mind. Security cameras are ubiquitous. Consider wearing non-distinct clothing and a face mask (such as a surgical mask or N95). Don’t sign up for rewards programs or provide any other information about yourself.

When purchasing online, ideally you should do so over [Tor](tor-overview.md). However, many merchants don’t allow purchases with Tor. You can consider using a [recommended VPN](../vpn.md) (paid for with cash, gift card, or Monero), or making the purchase from a coffee shop or library with free Wi-Fi. If you are ordering a physical item that needs to be delivered, you will need to provide a delivery address. You should consider using a PO box, private mailbox, or work address.

<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Important notices</p>

The content here is not legal or financial advice. We do not endorse or encourage illicit activities, and we do not endorse or encourage anything which violates a company's terms of service. Check with a professional to confirm that these recommendations are legal and available in your jurisdiction. [See all notices](../about/notices.md).

</div>
