How to retain privacy and buy stuff

[KiwiSqueezer]

OK, I admit it: I'm old and crusty and don't like many of the changes that are forced upon the sleep-walking public by so-called 'progress' and new technology.

I need to rebuild a couple of old accordions, and need parts and materials. I'm aware of several on-line retailers in Italy, Germany and France, and apparently defunct ones in UK and USA, but, quite reasonably, these don't appear to stock things like bare bass machine 'pistons', foundation plate leather facing, twenty different styles of treble grill thumbscrews, and other awkward accordion-specific hardware. Everything points to Carini being the 'one-stop-shop' with everything one could possibly need, so I finally bit the bullet and decided that I should try to conquer my dislike of its chaotic web site, inadequate translation, lack of important information (such as critical dimensions, screw thread standards, etc.), and thus set up an account so that I could, at least, get an idea of prices and minimum order quantities.

The account setting-up is devolved to formsite.com (i.e. an unknown 3rd party), which is a form-providing service, but also a data-gathering outfit that can, presumably, 'share' or sell any information it harvests. This includes things like place of birth, and other stuff that should be considered sensitive and private personal information, and which is superfluous to a simple on-line transaction. Gathering excessive information is an assault upon one's privacy, with unknowable implications for one's security. I'm not being paranoid, and I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I know a little about privacy and security, and the risks that the internet has brought. I run exclusively Linux PCs, with tweaked, sand-boxed Firefox and ad-blocker and script-blocker add-ons. (Probably fooling myself that it's much help...). I worked in a profession in which the respect of personal privacy was paramount - even to the extent of refusing to divulge other people's information to the forces of law and order.

Because of this, I no longer wish to open an account with Carini. So, my 'How do I...' question is 'How do I find a supplier of accordion parts and materials that has a reasonable attitude towards prospective customers?' Are there any friendly intermediaries who deal with Carini and the public?

 

[debra]

I have an account with Carini. It does not contain a lot of information and most importantly no financial information. There is no verification whether anything you enter is factual information.
When you place an order the followup is handled entirely by email and you pay the invoice by bank yourself, not through any form of theirs.
The situation used to be worse: for years the website did not even use https, so nothing was secure in any way. Now it's a little bit better...
When you are in the physical store they also want to know your account name (which is not your real name but a code) to put that on the invoice they print. I used to be very privacy/security conscious but I relaxed after realizing that I was among the very few who cared. Among the many people I communicate with through email there is even not a single one who uses pgp...

 

[dak]

Among the many people I communicate with through email there is even not a single one who uses pgp...

The main purpose of using PGP routinely for communication is not as much protecting your particular interactions but poisoning the pool. When the only interactions that are encrypted are ones where critical secrets are being conveyed, decrypting becomes a worthwhile investment of resources and use of encryption becomes a suspect activity. So in order to make encryption an effective means of protection, it is important that it isn't only used when it is important.

 

[debra]

The main purpose of using PGP routinely for communication is not as much protecting your particular interactions but poisoning the pool. When the only interactions that are encrypted are ones where critical secrets are being conveyed, decrypting becomes a worthwhile investment of resources and use of encryption becomes a suspect activity. So in order to make encryption an effective means of protection, it is important that it isn't only used when it is important.

Indeed. I still don't understand why email does not use PGP (or another form of encryption) all the time and for everyone since decades...
I guess nobody cares enough... or maybe some institute that does not want us to know does not allow the general use of PGP email encryption because afaik it does not offer a backdoor to decrypt the encrypted messages...

 

[dak]

Indeed. I still don't understand why email does not use PGP (or another form of encryption) all the time and for everyone since decades...
I guess nobody cares enough... or maybe some institute that does not want us to know does not allow the general use of PGP email encryption because afaik it does not offer a backdoor to decrypt the encrypted messages...

Government agencies have a strong dislike of safe encryption. If you want to check out the U.S. attitude on encryption as an example, take a closer look at the Clipper chip and the Clapper chap. Not a lot has changed since then.

 

[KiwiSqueezer]

There have been, for some time, rumours that pgp has been cracked... Of course, if any agency managed it, they would be stupid to admit it. Conspiracy theories are made of this stuff!

However, back to the original topic. debra implies that one can register with Carini using bogus 'personal' information, and that it's not verified. One has to wonder, then, as to what its purpose is. I suppose I'll have to give it a go, since there doesn't seem to be another supplier of a comprehensive range of accordion parts and materials. If anyone knows of one, please let us all know! Once a supplier realises it has a monopoly, prices will increase (that's capitalism and the 'free market' in action!).

 

[MoreorlessMusic]

OK, I admit it: I'm old and crusty and don't like many of the changes that are forced upon the sleep-walking public by so-called 'progress' and new technology.

I need to rebuild a couple of old accordions, and need parts and materials. I'm aware of several on-line retailers in Italy, Germany and France, and apparently defunct ones in UK and USA, but, quite reasonably, these don't appear to stock things like bare bass machine 'pistons', foundation plate leather facing, twenty different styles of treble grill thumbscrews, and other awkward accordion-specific hardware. Everything points to Carini being the 'one-stop-shop' with everything one could possibly need, so I finally bit the bullet and decided that I should try to conquer my dislike of its chaotic web site, inadequate translation, lack of important information (such as critical dimensions, screw thread standards, etc.), and thus set up an account so that I could, at least, get an idea of prices and minimum order quantities.

The account setting-up is devolved to formsite.com (i.e. an unknown 3rd party), which is a form-providing service, but also a data-gathering outfit that can, presumably, 'share' or sell any information it harvests. This includes things like place of birth, and other stuff that should be considered sensitive and private personal information, and which is superfluous to a simple on-line transaction. Gathering excessive information is an assault upon one's privacy, with unknowable implications for one's security. I'm not being paranoid, and I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I know a little about privacy and security, and the risks that the internet has brought. I run exclusively Linux PCs, with tweaked, sand-boxed Firefox and ad-blocker and script-blocker add-ons. (Probably fooling myself that it's much help...). I worked in a profession in which the respect of personal privacy was paramount - even to the extent of refusing to divulge other people's information to the forces of law and order.

Because of this, I no longer wish to open an account with Carini. So, my 'How do I...' question is 'How do I find a supplier of accordion parts and materials that has a reasonable attitude towards prospective customers?' Are there any friendly intermediaries who deal with Carini and the public?

Just the other day I tried to set up an account with Carini, having succeeded in stumbling across most of what I needed on their site, but my attempts to get their site to load the necessary "sign up" page failed to do more than spin its wheels on the several occasions over the next few hours that I tried! I had managed to get the page to load a few days before that, so I assumed that they may have been doing some site maintenance or some such. I have to say that websites that stutter and creak when trying to do the "secure" stuff do not inspire me with much confidence!

In the end I found most of what I was looking for on Strings and Boxes in Germany, and a set of pallets at a good price in Canada, so Carini will have to wait to another occasion.... whilst I twiddle my thumbs as various bits and pieces travel to my door (I hope!) in the South of the South Island of NZ!

I am delighted to read that you run Linux PCs. I have been doing that since around 2002, beginning with Debian... and a dial up modem, when USB connections were still a fairly new thing! I have been using Arch Linux for the last few years, which has gone well for me even though I don't consider myself particularly knowledgeable.

I am also concerned about the excessive information that so many sites want to gather when you simply want to buy a product from them, it is madness really.... after all we would never tolerate that in the "real world" of a physical shop. Imagine purchasing some bread and milk from the local dairy and being asked for age, name, gender, address and so on! Unfortunately it would seem that the alternative of not providing the information that has been requested is to be unable to make a transaction. I have wondered about setting up an alternative identity, such as a one legged 40 year old Tibetan female anthropologist, but it would really mess things up when it came to credit card information or a delivery address!

Best Wishes, and good luck with the accordion rebuilds!

 

[KiwiSqueezer]

I may have found a way of postponing selling my soul to the devil and setting up a Carini account.

www.accordeons.fr seems to have the most comprehensive range of parts that I've seen, other than Carini. The site is in French only, but is well-behaved, prices are indicated, and I haven't noticed ridiculous minimum-order quantities. It'll need a bit of effort to remember school-boy French and to work out what on earth Google Translate is talking about, but it's looking hopeful.

Has anyone here used Accodeons.fr?

 

[Ffingers]

Strings & Boxes in Germany were easy for me to deal with as well.
Stuff came wel packaged and promptly posted.

 

[KiwiSqueezer]

Strings & Boxes in Germany were easy for me to deal with as well.
Stuff came wel packaged and promptly posted.

Thanks for that - good to know. I'd rummaged around in their attractive web site (in good English, too!), but, as one might expect, they didn't have everything I wanted. Quite Hohner-focussed, too.

I have been very satisfied by the service I received from La mall aux Accordeons - recommended to others. I'll report back on my experience with Accordeons.fr if/when I've tried them out...

Perhaps the moderators might consider setting up a 'sticky' thread in which we can recommend (or warn people off) sources of parts and materials. It seems that the number of suppliers may be shrinking - what's happened to CGM (retired? Ill?), Ernest Deffner (new owner, unreliable?), FRM (defunct?).

 

[Rosie C]

This includes things like place of birth, and other stuff that should be considered sensitive and private personal information, and which is superfluous to a simple on-line transaction.

Much like our late queen, I have two birthdays - the real one, and my internet birthday that I use consistently online.