End of Anonymous SMS Donations Devastates Swedish Charitable Giving
Who knew that people like privacy?
The Swedish Red Cross has reported a 92-percent drop in SMS donations since Swedish mobile operators required their customers to register online, including the submission of sensitive personal information, in order to greenlight a money transfer via text message.
The organization published its figures at the end of February, comparing SMS donations to February 2012, and warned the drop could have humanitarian consequences.
"It quite simply dried up," Red Cross spokesman Pär Wilhelmsson told the TT news agency.
He said many young people use text message payments to give money.
Charities blame a new money transfer system, WyWallet, that requires potential donors to fill in their personal identification number (personnummer).
