Ed Hasbrouck writes:
Back in 2009, I reported that credit-card issuers led by American Express had begun requiring their customers’ consent to receive unlimited robocalls and text messages at any telephone number those customers had ever used, including cellphon numbers. That posed a risk of harassment for all customers, a risk of extra expenses for customers who might have to pay extra to receive calls or text messages while roaming abroad (what if you had called AmEx from a satellite phone?) , and a special security risk for travellers who might have called AmEx or other card issuers from borrowed phones, public phones, or phones at hostels, hotels, etc.
AmEx didn’t back down in the face of negative publicity, even when my story got picked up by the New York Times. AmEx closed my account, and other card issuers including the issuer of a Paypal-affiliated card began imposing similar terms on their customers.
Now Paypal itself and its parent eBay are following suit with new terms of service effective this month.
Read more on Practical Nomad.