# How did they get my email address? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-get-my-email-address/705665 "2014-11-26T13:31:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![erpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e56c9b/32.png) [@erpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erpa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-get-my-email-address/705665/1 "2014-11-26T13:31:11Z")
I’m traveling for the holiday and visited a coffee shop. I made a purchase with my credit card, asked for username/password to access the house wifi, and by the time I logged on to my email I already had a receipt from [Squareup.com](http://Squareup.com) with the amount and details of my purchase. Huh? OK, my email address is [first.last@gmail.com](mailto:first.last@gmail.com), but I didnt think vendors had access/authorization to electronic information directly from the card transaction. So, does anyone have the facts on how this process works? erpa ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-get-my-email-address/705665/2 "2014-11-26T14:41:52Z")
Wow. I share my location with various apps, but I don’t think my email is included. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-get-my-email-address/705665/3 "2014-11-26T14:48:14Z")
Gmail. Google’s right hand knows everything its left hand is doing. Everything with a G in it is interconnected. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-get-my-email-address/705665/4 "2014-11-26T14:59:14Z")
This is actually less complicated than you think: you previously made a transaction with a merchant using SquareUp and gave that merchant your email. SquareUp stores e-mails associated with credit cards and will automatically send you a receipt for any subsequent transaction with a SquareUp merchant if the merchant has that feature activated. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-get-my-email-address/705665/5 "2014-11-26T15:20:47Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > This is actually less complicated than you think: you previously made a transaction with a merchant using SquareUp and gave that merchant your email. SquareUp stores e-mails associated with credit cards and will automatically send you a receipt for any subsequent transaction with a SquareUp merchant if the merchant has that feature activated. This. I’ve had the same behavior at many merchants where I never gave them any identity information at all; just handed them the same CC I’ve used for previous Square purchases. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-get-my-email-address/705665/6 "2014-11-26T21:14:18Z")
I have an Amex card with Costco and I get a rebate at the end of the year consisting of a percentage of my purchases. Whenever I use that card at any store, gas station, etc. it shows up immediately on my iPhone. Of course Amex has my email address, but I also have KeyRing on my iPhone and the Costco card is one of the cards I scanned. The notice does not appear in my email, just as a notification on my iPhone.