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PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

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Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#131

Post by cr3ative »

b112 wrote: post #120
_heimdall wrote: post #82

I had a horrible experience with PayPal earlier this year. I needed to send $500 to an individual buying our house, they were paying cash and on such a tight timeline for closing that the closing docs were written up before they got back their inspection report and asked for an allowance. Paypal kept blocking the transaction even though it was just a simple person to person transfer. I was on chat with their support…

NO security team?! So they literally admitted that they don't have anyone actively monitoring transactions? Working to watch for fraud? Theft? Hacking? Wow, I may stop using them as well.

There is no security team which you may speak to.

Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#132

Post by awinter-py »

'this is an arbitrary + stupid mistake by a company known for drawing lines in the sand over stupid rules' is the less scary answer here

we know tardigrades can travel through space. what if the aliens are already here

tardigrades founded paypal to demoralize us with arbitrary + stupid rules, and their only weakness is the streisand effect

Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#133

Post by scarface74 »

gruez wrote: post #107
the8472 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But for regular banks service to private citizens is also compulsory, so they can't just choose the easy path by blocking a transaction based on keyword filters, they must do the intended auditing. So for them there is a balance, for paypal there isn't.

>But for regular banks service to private citizens is also compulsory what country is that? AFAIK in the US most businesses can refuse to do business with you for any reason, except a very limited set of reasons related to discrimination[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_group

Better citation is “No Duty to Deal”

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a...

Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#134

Post by newyorker2 »

aphextron wrote: post #124
afiori wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not from the US and to me PayPal was always only a way to avoid filling in credit cards details on (random) websites. it always feels a bit weird to see people elsewhere rely on it for much more.

>I'm not from the US and to me PayPal was always only a way to avoid filling in credit cards details on (random) websites. And this is the answer. Paypal's existence comes down to the fact that they are the sole "legitimate" vector into the US financial system for a vast majority of the rest of the world. Because that's such a massive financial incentive, they can basically treat users however they wish and get away…

Brewing up space for that next startup who respects their users and works in the same marketplace ;)

Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#135

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

GDPR has a separate, less-known article that bans fully automated decision making without an appeals process: https://gdpr-info.eu/art-22-gdpr/

It's unlikely you'll be able to get Paypal to actually comply with it, but going through a path that will hit someone familiar with GDPR and mentioning this article, and escalating via the DPA, is probably the most promising option

Obviously doesn't help if you need something done quickly, because especially if you need to get the DPA involved, this process will take months.

Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#136

Post by scarface74 »

Silhouette wrote: post #44
mrweasel wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know if PayPal ever claimed otherwise, but I’ve suspected that much of the AI powered moderation online is simply advanced keyword matching. We have to start accepting that either websites are unwilling to or unable to do moderation in any meaningful way, unless they hire human moderators at huge costs. Hearing an interview with the country for Facebook on Danish radio just two weeks ago, it’s pretty clear to…

Politicians often ask for silly things in connection with technologies they don't really understand, to achieve goals they don't really expect to achieve, just in order to look good to a certain part of the electorate. Consider an analogy between modern social media sites and something like a phone network or postal mail service. What would happen if a politician suggested that phone companies or their national posta…

Yet posters on HN are the first ones to want the government to regulate tech.

Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#137

Post by Demiurge »

b112 wrote: post #120
_heimdall wrote: post #82

I had a horrible experience with PayPal earlier this year. I needed to send $500 to an individual buying our house, they were paying cash and on such a tight timeline for closing that the closing docs were written up before they got back their inspection report and asked for an allowance. Paypal kept blocking the transaction even though it was just a simple person to person transfer. I was on chat with their support…

NO security team?! So they literally admitted that they don't have anyone actively monitoring transactions? Working to watch for fraud? Theft? Hacking? Wow, I may stop using them as well.

It was a lie, of course they have all that, they just never speak to people. When was the last time you spoke to google support or manager? They collect notes and only when something escalates to a PR story or a high volume of complaints/failures/cancellations do they create some JIRA story and assign it to some engineer. A “business to consumer” internet giant will never let the consumers get passed the call center to talk to engineers directly, and engineers don’t want that either. It’s as much of a rule as that a business must be profitable. On the other hand, competent support is supposed to have tools to fix most issues.

I also had a bad issue with some unauthorized withdrawal via eBay, from my paypal, in about 2004, and spent hours on the phone with no result. I wished I could boycott them after this, but no one cares, I just learned no to trust them because they are a terribly run company on the consumer support side. And I think it is because they deal so much with fraud. I don’t think we can do anything about it, except promote these stories.

Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#138

Post by calvinmorrison »

imnotjames wrote: post #123
_Microft wrote: post #7

Per [0], a possible answer to this seems to be that an arms dealer had connections to a company called Tardigrade Ltd. and all transactions with firms like these are prohibited which is why the word "Tardigrade" made it into PayPal's filter. As long as companies like PayPal have issues like that, or with moderation in case of Youtube, Twitter or Facebook, I'd claim neither of these companies have actually solved scal…

PayPal gets a list of banned strings from the Office of Foreign Asset controls. If any match those strings it's flagged for a review. This is more or less legally required for any company that moves money in the United States of America. You will probably find the same issues with the same terms on any other banking for financial body. Technically, these aren't being blocked. They're being audited. The payments will…

It's very annoying. I worked at a shop that sold cigars online. No actual cubans, but brands that used the name cuba in it. Inadvertently every time it would get flagged.

Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#139

Post by afiori »

Krasnol wrote: post #61

I hope the EU will come up with a central bank backed alternative soon.

in the EU (instant) IBANs (that are slowly rolling out since some years ago) largely solve the problem. here PayPal is used a lot but mostly with external credit cards (like Google pay or apple pay)

Re: PayPal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade”

#140

Post by CydeWeys »

calvinmorrison wrote: post #138
imnotjames wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PayPal gets a list of banned strings from the Office of Foreign Asset controls. If any match those strings it's flagged for a review. This is more or less legally required for any company that moves money in the United States of America. You will probably find the same issues with the same terms on any other banking for financial body. Technically, these aren't being blocked. They're being audited. The payments will…

It's very annoying. I worked at a shop that sold cigars online. No actual cubans, but brands that used the name cuba in it. Inadvertently every time it would get flagged.

This seems like poor branding on the part of the cigar brands (at least for online sales).
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