liberethos_paradigm/rap_sheets/paypal.md

1. Paypal is a **privacy** abuser:
    1. PayPal shares customers' data with [600 companies](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2018/03/the_600_compani.html).
    1. PayPal goes overboard on the KYC, blocking accounts on KYC grounds when enough info is known to legally service an account.  This is an needless assault on privacy. *(citation needed)*
    1. PayPal no longer allows people to use it without creating an account.  If you try to use it without creating an account, an account is created for you automatically. *(citation needed)*
    1. Accounts cannot be deleted.  Accounts may only be disabled/closed *manually* [by phone request](https://github.com/justdeleteme/justdelete.me/pull/481).  Deletion is impossible, as PayPal retains all the data indefinitely.  *(citation needed- it would likely violate the GDPR to refuse deletion to a European)*
1. Paypal is detrimental to civil liberties:
    1. PayPal has a history [littered](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Criticism) with power-abusing payment blockades that are often politically motivated to benefit right-wing agendas. E.g.:
        1. PayPal [blocked Iraq War resisters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Criticism).
        1. PayPal [blocked Wikileaks](https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2010/12/07/visa-mastercard-move-to-choke-wikileaks).
        1. PayPal [blocked](https://www.economist.com/europe/2015/05/13/boris-nemtsovs-parting-shot) an account intended to raise money for the distribution of Boris Nemtsov's report "Putin. War", which details Russia's intervention in Ukraine.
        1. PayPal [blocks payments to VPN services](https://www.finder.com.au/paypal-starts-blocking-vpn-payments-what-should-you-do).  This is a demonstration of nannying to micro-control people's spending. The bullying has a secondary impact: the user is refused access to a tool that secures their privacy.
1. Paypal's greed cheats people out of money they're entitled to:
    1. PayPal [declined](https://www.pcworld.com/article/2039940/paypal-denies-teenager-reward-for-finding-website-bug.html) to pay a reward offered in its [Bug Bounty Program](https://web.archive.org/web/hackerone.com/paypal) to a 17-year-old German student who had reported a cross-site scripting flaw on its site.
    1. PayPal is often reported to simply take customers' money or deny them access as they [arbitrarily freeze](https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000998078) the accounts of [many people](https://mywifequitherjob.com/why-paypal-freezes-or-limits-accounts-and-how-to-prevent-this-from-happening-to-you).
1. PayPal is detrimental to consumer rights:
    1. PayPal [prohibits](https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/PayPal-Basics/paypal-and-VPN-problem/td-p/1353216) the use of VPNs.  Instead of simply blocking VPNs, PayPal sneakily allows them to login in order to discover who uses a VPN in order to [suspend](https://old.reddit.com/r/VPN/comments/63t8kg/is_it_against_paypals_terms_to_use_a_vpn) accounts.  The suspension is generally timed so that money becomes trapped on the account.
    1. There is a maximum two accounts policy, and every account is single currency. So frequent international road warriers face discrimination and must pay more currency conversion fees.
    1. Hundreds of consumers complain about PayPal annually on the [Consumer Affairs website](https://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/paypal_02.html).  By 2016, there were over 1200 complaints.
    1. Staff becomes unreachable and website becomes inoperable when trying to [unfreeze](https://mirasee.com/blog/paypal) accounts.
    1. PayPal algorithmically uses money laundering triggers that are so arbitrary that PayPal's customer service [don't know themselves](https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Cliff-Sarans-Enterprise-blog/PayPal-money-laundering-nonsense) why accounts get frozen.
    1. If you register again after previously closing your account, you [cannot](https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/My-Money/HOW-TO-DE-LINK-CARD-FROM-CLOSED-ACCOUNT-AND-LINK-IT-TO-NEW-ONE/td-p/1641244) add your credit card number because the number is permanently tied to previous closed account.
1. PayPal neglects to adhere to banking regulations by [claiming](https://web.archive.org/web/www.cnet.com/news/feds-paypal-not-a-bank) PayPal is not a bank.

[//]: # (alternative to PayPal: Stripe API)
[//]: # (www.cnet.com is on and off CF - maybe the site change its route by judging user's IP. We're not going to babysit that, so the link is via Wayback Machine)
[//]: # (CloudFlare hosts related links herein: blog.consumeraffairs.com, shop.economist.com, store.forbes.com)