Secure Internet Transactions

[rotrott]

I'm wondering why bitcoin isn't touted as a solution for secure internet transactions.  I would much rather use bitcoin than trust each internet retailer with my credit card data (even paypal).  This seems like the strongest argument for bitcoin IMO, but I don't see it mentioned much...perhaps I'm not looking in the right places. 

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[Meni Rosenfeld]

Probably because handing out CC data is horrible in theory, but not so much in practice. People go through their entire lives without CC data being stolen by a vendor, and in case it is they can dispute charges and cancel the card. So the kind of people who would appreciate this argument are already convinced.

[Steve]

I've had my CC info stolen twice in the last 3 months.  Previously I'd had it stolen only a couple times in the last 10 years.  This is a big advantage for bitcoin (and one we point out at bit-pay.com and when talking to prospective merchants).  It's not just about the risk for the consumer, it's also about the cost involved in collecting and securely handling the personal information that merchants have to collect to reduce the risk of fraud.  A few highly publicized cases (i.e. Sony) show just how costly it can be if you don't adequately secure that information.  Bitcoin gives you a way to avoid ever having to collect that information in the first place.

[cottoneyeJoe]

Somewhat random thought about decentralized trust, bitcoin, and the recent SSL Certificate Authority compromises that have come to light recently....

Could aspects of the bitcoin block chain concept be used to decide which certs to trust or not trust without having to rely on central certificate authorities?

[ctoon6]

in reality you can never be sure of anything. how do you know that the certs in your browser are not tampered with via an exploit or during the transit of the software from the internet to your computer.