Date:         Thu, 10 Oct 2002 23:08:14 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: online vendors
In-Reply-To:  <0F48BB0F-DC9F-11D6-9E1F-00039398EEBC@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> >  I have to say that there is some big savings to be
> >  found at thepartsbin.com
>
> There maybe a savings. But the need to "login" to the store will
> prevent me from ever using them.
>
> I don't have to login when I walk into the local 7/11. I don't see any
> reason I have to online. And I won't.



Jim Thompson's comments notwithstanding, I do understand Kim's hesitation,
and that is why www.busdepot.com somewhat "bucks the trend" by not requiring
you to log in to purchase.

If you are asked to log in to a website (after which it shows you your
personal info), then other people can get your personal info as well. Of
course it is supposedly "password protected" and for your eyes only.  But
many hackers have gotten into similar "password protected" sites, both big
and small. CDuniverse.com, for example, refused to pay a hacker a $100,000
bribe, so he publicly posted all their customers' credit card numbers (and
used some himself).  Another hacker stole over 15,000 (yes, 15,000!!)
customers' credit card numbers from Western Union's website.

Busdepot.com stores your personal info online only temporarily, and then
deletes it. After you place an order, your order is downloaded in about one
working day or less. The file is then kept on the server for a finite period
to ensure that it the download was successful, and then permanently deleted.
I don't doubt that a top notch hacker could get into my site, or anyone
else's for that matter, no matter how secure the site.  But anyone who
hacked busdepot.com would find slim pickings once he got there. The best
security is to have nothing worth stealing!  (Incidentally, our privacy
policy is equally simple.  We don't sell our customers' personal info to
outside parties.  Period.)

This does have a slight downside, as it means you must enter your personal
info each time you order, rather than it just popping up for you when you
log in.  And frankly it is less convenient for us as well.  But I have felt
that the security of my customers' personal data is worth this
inconvenience.

Of course I can't promise that it will always be this way, as technologies
and software change.  (Frankly I wouldn't mind offering the convenience of a
"log in" option some day if I were sold on its security.)  But this is why,
since the Bus Depot's inception, I have opted to take the more conservative
route.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  (215) 234-VWVW
  www.busdepot.com

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