I use checks to pay the monthly utilities and other recurring bills. I use a debit card only for ATM transactions, and I do not have, and have never had, a credit card. I do not conduct any financial affairs online.

I pay cash for small transactions, and use a check for larger transactions. I pay cash for my groceries, and if I use a "discount card," I use an anonymous one. Markets use those cards to track and sell their customers' purchase histories to commercial data mining companies (such as Catalina Marketing), which insurers, employers, and others buy.

Credit cards are even worse. The card companies gather and sell the cardholders' purchase data to large data mining companies like Acxiom and ChoicePoint, whose subscribers include marketers, insurance companies, the federal government, and law enforcement agencies.

When I am at my local gun store, I am surprised at how many people buying guns, ammo, and other items pay with their plastic. The card companies record and sell those purchase data along with all their other credit card transaction records. If the current administration decided that the time had come to track down firearms ownership or enact a registration scheme, it could easily purchase those credit card records. Although the purchase records do not reveal the individual items, it would be easy to figure out that someone who made frequent purchases at gun stores likely owned or has an interest in firearms.