liberethos_paradigm/us_brokerages.md

# Directory of US brokerage firms

## Whitelist
The following brokerages have no significant ethical issues:

| *brokerage* | *sensitive info exposed to CloudFlare* | *supported CISPA* | *ALEC member* | *forced drug testing of staff* | *notes* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|[E*Trade](https://us.etrade.com)|n|y|n|n|covers: Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States; funding bonus ($5k=>$50; $10k=>$100; $20k=>$150)|
|[Greenvest](https://greenvest.com)|n|n|n|n|RIRA; min. investment to avoid fees: $100k; [B corp](https://bcorporation.net/directory/greenvest)|
|[Rich Uncles](https://richuncles.com)|n|n|n|n|Real estate investing only|
|[Vanguard](https://investor.vanguard.com)|n|n|n|y||

## Graylist

These brokerages would normally be blacklisted, but due to the short
whitelist they are set aside as a less evil compromise to those
blacklisted.  They should still be avoided if possible.

| *brokerage* | *sensitive info exposed to CloudFlare* | *supported CISPA* | *ALEC member* | *forced drug testing of staff* | *notes* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|[Finhabits](https://www.finhabits.com)|n|n|n|n|[B corp](https://bcorporation.net/directory/finhabits); Hosted on Google Cloud; outsources to Apex; uses Equifax for address verification|
|[InteractiveBrokers](https://interactivebrokers.com)|n|n|n|n|min. investment to avoid fees: $100k per account; has a "impact" feature to analyze the portfolio's ESG factors w.r.t. the user's ethical views; covers Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States; website is **partially Tor-hostile** but the site can be avoided for most operations after sign-up|
|[Janus Henderson](https://www.janushenderson.com)|n|n|n|n|Amazon AWS-hosted |
|[nvstr](https://www.nvstr.com)|n|n|n|n|Amazon AWS-hosted; maintenance fee: $4/month; promos: $15-150 for funding, random bonus awards, referral bonuses|
|[Robinhood](https://robinhood.com/us/en/)|n|n|n|n|Amazon AWS-hosted; They may have used CloudFlare in the past but apparently that changed.|
|[Stash](https://stash.com)|n|n|n|n|Amazon AWS-hosted; no mutual funds; no options; no crypto; maintenance fee: $1/month|
|[tastyworks](https://tastyworks.com)|n|n|n|n|Amazon AWS-hosted; TIRA; RIRA; no forex; no crypto; no non-US stocks; open/close fee= $0/0; commission=$5/stock trade (closing trades gratis), $1/option trade; promo: funding (100 shares [$1-6ea, avg:$200-220]), referral=$75|
|[TradeStation](https://www.tradestation.com)|n|n|n|n|Amazon AWS-hosted; crypto; min. invest=$500 ($2k for bonus); open/close fee= $0/0; commission=$0.50/option trade; commission=$0-5/stock trade|
|[Webull](https://www.webull.com)|n|n|n|n|Amazon AWS-hosted; TIRA; RIRA; crypto; no forex|

### Rationale for graylist inclusion

Brokerage firms are graylisted here if their sole ethical problem is
hosting on Amazon AWS.  Amazon is behind
[countless evils](rap_sheets/amazon.md).  It's paramount to boycott
Amazon for anyone who cares about human rights, privacy, or the
environment.  Amazon also has had several data breaches-- Capital One,
Juspay, Swiggy, etc., so it's a bad idea to trust custodians who use
AWS with the security of your money.

Exceptionally, Finhabits and InteractiveBrokers do not use AWS but
they are still graylisted.  Finhabits outsources address verification
to Equifax.

<details>
<summary>The problem with Equifax</summary>

Equifax is the most reckless of all four credit bureaus with sensitive
credit data.  A data breach of sensitive consumer records to the tune
of ~150 million Americans was leaked as a result of reckless security
procedures.  The lawsuit yielded a disproportionately tiny settlement
by which most Americans were not compensated, even though they never
consented to Equifax collecting the data to begin with.  Of those who
received compensation, most did not receive cash, but rather credit
protection service which ultimately feeds more money back into the
credit bureaus.
</details>

InteractiveBrokers is graylisted due to blocking Tor users from
accessing some of the web features.

## Blacklist

These brokerages have severe ethical or trust issues and should be boycotted.

| *brokerage* | *sensitive info exposed to CloudFlare* | *supported CISPA* | *ALEC member* | *forced drug testing of staff* | *notes* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Ally|n|y|n|n|whole site is Tor-hostile (403 error)|
|Axos Invest|y|n|n|n|Amazon AWS-hosted; Axos Bank is jailed in CloudFlare and Axos Invest will be soon. Investors who get blocked by that will have to pay $5/month for paper statements.|
|Betterment|n|n|n|n|Imposes hCAPTCHA just to read the landing page. They censor posts in their Reddit sub that complains about this instead of offering support.|
|Ellevest|y|n|n|n|
|Euro Pacific Capital|y|n|n|n|
|FUTU|n|n|n|n|support.fututrade.com is CloudFlared; no web app; mobile app is GPS-iOS-only; desktop is Mac/Windows only|
|Firstrade|n|n|n|n|whole site is Tor-hostile (468 error)|
|Fundrise|n|n|n|n|Amazon AWS-hosted; Unavoidable CAPTCHAs|
|Gatsby|n|n|n|n|no web app; no desktop app; mobile app is GPS-iOS-only|
|Lightspeed|y|n|n|n||
|M1 Finance|y|n|n|n|They censor posts in their Reddit sub that expose the risks of passing sensitive financial data through CloudFlare.|
|Merrill Edge|n|n|n|y|Owned by one of the [most evil](us_banks.md) banks in the world (Bank of America)|
|Prudential|n|y|y|y|
|Siebert|y|n|n|n||
|SoFi|y|n|n|n|They censor posts in their Reddit sub that expose the risks of passing sensitive financial data through CloudFlare.|
|Sogotrade|y|n|n|n||
|Stockpile|y|n|n|n|
|TD Ameritrade|n|n|n|n|Majority owned by Charles Schwab, a firm that [supports](us_banks.md) republicans, CISPA, drug tests their staff, and treats Tor users with hostility (but note that TDA functions over Tor). Schwab outsources banking operations to PNC bank, which is [quite evil](us_banks.md).|
|TIAA-CREF|n|n|n|n|Whole site is Tor-hostile|
|Tradingblock|y|n|n|n|
|Wealthfront|n|n|n|n|Registration imposes Google reCAPTCHA|
|Wealthsimple|y|n|n|n|
|Wellstrade|n|y|n|y|Owned by Wells Fargo, an [evil](us_banks.md) bank.|
|Zackstrade|y|n|n|n|

### Rationale for blacklist inclusion

#### Tor hostility (Ally, Firsttrade, and TIAA-CREF)

Some banks and brokerages that are aggressively Tor hostile are
automatically blacklisted.

<details>
<summary>Why brokerage access over Tor matters</summary>
If Tor were used exclusively for anonymity, it would be useless in the
context of consumers accessing and controlling their financial
accounts.  But that's not the case.  Tor prevents your ISP from
snooping on where you bank.  ISPs collect data on their own customers
and exploit it for profit in the US.  Under Obama it became illegal
for an ISP to sell data collected on their customers without express
consent. As if that's not already useless thanks to an abundant supply
of consumers who will agree to anything without reading it, Trump
[reversed](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-signs-measure-let-isps-sell-your-data-without-consent-n742316)
Obama's policy in 2017 to render consumers completely powerless.  Tor
is a free tool to protect from excessive disclosure of where your
assets are.  Thus when a bank or brokerage blocks Tor, it prevents you
from taking basic self-defense measures.  This trend undermines the
supplier-client relationship whereby we expect the supplier to serve
the customer's interest.  It's not just anti-privacy, it's
anti-consumer.  

Non-Tor users generally reveal their physical location to their bank
every time they login.  If all banks didn't care where you reside,
this wouldn't be a problem.  But some banks care more than others and
beyond reason.  For nomads/world travelers banks can make their lives
hell if their profile doesn't seem to match up with their lifestyle.
Some banks will close an account if a customer moves out of their
service area.  If you want to take a job away from home for a year or
two, Tor gives you the necessary privacy to do that free of hassle and
nannying.
</details>

<details>
<summary>Why non-Tor users should boycott Tor adversaries</summary>
Suppose you never leave home, and you're not bothered if your ISP
collects data on where you bank to then sell to data brokers who can
then sell it to debt collectors.  If you're ethical nonetheless, then
you still boycott those who marginalize Tor users.  These quotes
elaborate on that moral duty:

"*If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the
side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a
mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate
your neutrality.*" --Desmond Tutu

"*Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you
have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about
free speech because you have nothing to say.*" --Edward Snowden

To expand on Snowden's philosophy, it's extremely selfish to refuse to
defend a right that others need on the basis that you don't personally
need it now or in the future.  Moreover, indirect benefits should not
be overlooked.  Human rights activists need civil liberties more than
others, but we all need activists to make the world better for
everyone.  Moral duties to you derive from that.

Tor is becoming less usable because the growing majority non-Tor users
are patronizing businesses that marginalize Tor users.

"*Under observation, we act less free, which means we effectively are
less free.*" --Edward Snowden

To neglect to use Tor is to subject yourself to unnecessary
observation.  In the context of banking and finance, this in turn
reduces your freedom of movement.
</details>

#### CloudFlare

Banks and brokerages that proxy their services through CloudFlare are
blacklisted automatically for taking a profoundly stupid risk with
consumers sensitive financial data.  CloudFlare holds the SSL keys for
every connection and sees all the traffic including username and
unhashed password.  CloudFlare has proven to be untrustworthy with
sensitive information (demonstrated by CloudFlare's doxxing of the
identities of child porn whistle blowers).  Apart from the
unacceptably high security risk of having a CloudFlare MitM, there are
countless [ethical problems](rap_sheets/cloudflare.md) with being an
enabler of CloudFlare.

#### forced CAPTCHA (Betterment, Fundrise, and Wealthfront)

Banks and brokerages that force customers to solve an hCAPTCHA or a
Google reCAPTCHA are blacklisted automatically.  Use of these two
forms of CAPTCHA have an excessive detrimental consequence on privacy
and human rights, which is outlined in the
[CloudFlare rap sheet](rap_sheets/cloudflare.md).

#### Google Playstore (GPS) / Apple exclusivity (FUTU and Gatsby)

Banks and brokerages that force customers to obtain software from
Google Playstore or Apple are blacklisted automatically.  Most brokers
have web access or a desktop app, in which case the mobile app can be
disregarded because customers have a viable means to avoid the privacy
abusing walled gardens.  But FUTU and Gatsby are a problem.  Gatsby
has no means of access apart from the mobile app, and no APK is
available on their website or in f-droid.org, so Android users have no
choice but to buy mobile phone service, trust Google withe their phone
number, then also trust Google not to tell data brokers where you bank
and invest.  FUTU has a desktop app but only for Mac or Windows, so
linux users are stuffed.

#### Bad supply chains (Merrill Edge, TD Ameritrade, and Wellstrade)

Merrill Edge, TD Ameritrade, and Wellstrade all have unethical
ownership.  Merrill Edge and Wellstrade are simply owned by extremely
[evil banks](us_banks.md).  A large majority of TD Ameritrade is owned
by Charles Schwab.  Schwab is not directly involved in the highly
controversial financing that other large banks are, but Schwab
outsources banking to PNC bank, which is quite evil.

It's important for ethical consumption to consider the whole supply
chain to the extent of your awareness.  When consuming a product or
service you're not just feeding the immediate customer-facing
business.