Does it seem like you have to give personal information almost everywhere you go on the web now?

[Skip Intro]

Last edited Sun Feb 19, 2012, 02:42 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm asked accept terms they know I'll never read, and give an email address, sometimes a cell phone number, first name, last name, physical address. sex, etc at almost every turn anymore. Now I'm being enticed to name my friends and recruit them. Why do I need to give an email address or log into facebook to make a comment on a news story? Speaking of facebook, why do I need to give access permission to my friends list in order to use almost any app?

What are they doing with all that information?

Is it getting a bit much, or is it just me?

on edit: Yeah, I use ghost email accounts too and give false info on forms etc. But how many people don't? And why are they asking? It's a strong conditioning to give info. Facebook is the worst. People list their actual addresses and phone numbers on a site that is accessible to anyone if the proper settings aren't set.

[niyad]

1. I don't give any of my information to just look at a site, or comment on an article, and I certainly

do not give anyone else's information.

[MADem]

9. Lead us not into temptation!

Name: Newtie Multimarriages Gingrich

Telephone number: (look up the number for Tiffany's in New York, use that!)

EMail: Perverted@hotmail or yahoo or aol dot com (they're all free, easy to set up a tosser account there!)

It could be almost fun!

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. My favorite tosser e-mail:10minutemail.com

[MADem]

21. Is that anything like mailinator.com? They're wonderful.

You make up your email address--it can be [e-mail], [e-mail],[e-mail]--anything at all--and then, if you are signing up for something where you have to get a piece of mail from the site, you go to the mailinator site, type in the address you just made up, and voila--there's your "click and confirm" email. After a few hours, the email just....disappears.

There's no security on the site, it's only good for tosser stuff, but I have used it frequently enough.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. yep, sounds the same.

expect there are more than a few "disposable" mailbox sites.

[Rochester]

2. I like to use bugmenot

to bypass registrations sometimes. Or I can just make up a (usually sarcastic) email address, like youaintsendingmenofuckingspam at noneofyourgoddamnedbusiness dot com.
I've never been asked for a mobile phone number, probably just as well because I use a regular (wired) phone.
Never used facebook.

[Incitatus]

3. I always use a fictitious identity when signing up to different sites and for stores.

Facebook uses that information to sell to advertisers. They probably have more information on their users than people realize by scanning every post and comment they make and using that to make judgements about them and what ads to show them. If you often post about golf, movies, drinking etc. You might see similar advertisements online or even in the mail since most people use their real names and cities in their profiles.

[grasswire]

4. to quote Jazz musician Fats Waller:

"Never give your real name, no no no."

[SheilaT]

5. I actually have six or seven, maybe more

emails that I use for sites I don't intend to visit much. I never bother to check those various emails, either.

There is a real limit to how much information I'm willing to give out, and if a site wants more than I want to give and I can't just invent stuff, then I won't bother.

One reason I don't have very many credit cards is that I absolutely refuse to give my social security number to organizations that aren't paying me money, and therefore do not need to report anything to the IRS.

[Zalatix]

6. You think that's bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/02/should-employers-be-allowed-to-ask-for-your-facebook-login/71480/

Should Employers Be Allowed to Ask for Your Facebook Login?
FEB 19 2011, 10:54 AM ET 133
Update 2/22, 5:11pm: The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has suspended the practice of asking for Facebook login information for 45 days, according to an email they sent to The Atlantic. See our full story on the development.

The American Civil Liberties Union has taken up the cause of a Maryland man who was forced to cough up his Facebook password during a job interview with the Department of Corrections in that state.

According to an ACLU letter sent to the Maryland Department of Corrections, the organization requires that new applicants and those applying for recertifications give the government "their social media account usernames and personal passwords for use in employee background checks."

The ACLU calls this policy "a frightening and illegal invasion of privacy" and I can't say that I disagree. Keep in mind that this isn't looking at what you've posted to a public Twitter account; the government agency here could look through private Facebook messages, which seems a lot like reading through your mail, paper or digital.

[MADem]

8. I'd lie if I was asked. Like a rug. With no shame whatsoever.

What's a Facebook? Oh, I don't use the computer for THAT sort of nonsense!

I am glad the ACLU is on this, though--what they are doing is dead wrong.

[Posteritatis]

20. As employers don't have a right to that sort of thing, I'd simply refuse outright. (nt)

[niyad]

15. would not work for an employer that asked for that information. big brother is watching.

my friends can reach me via email or phone. and nobody else needs to know what I am doing. don't have a facebook page, and won't.

[dickthegrouch]

16. I have a several page disclaimer

That I'm developing for anyone stupid enough to ask for my passwords.

It includes such phrases as "agree to take responsibility for anything posted which is out of character..."
" Trackable chain of custody for the account information will be maintained at all times"
"Agrees to indemnify account owner against any and all consequences for misuse including an agreed minimum damages of $1.000,000 for each such incident"

I haven't used it yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing their faces when I give it to them.

I have a similar one for my injectable meds travel form for the TSA - they haven't kept my personal info yet.

[MADem]

7. I use my forty foot pole when it comes to that kind of stuff!

My zip code is 90210, my address is 1 Main Street! Who wants a name? How about Joe Blow or Ophelia Thigh? It ain't nobody's business if I do, that's my attitude!

[Skip Intro]

10. Facebook is an information gathering enterprise.

Facebook exists to collect and sell information, or sell access to information.

What ever else facebook is, or once was, it is now an information gathering machine.

So Is Google.

[EFerrari]

11. Yep. The ironic bit about search engines nowadays

is that we are not searching as much as being searched.

[Speck Tater]

12. Where are going that asks that kind of info?!?

Personally, I'd stay FAAAAR away from any sites that ask for stuff like that.

Not to worry, though. The Internet is just a passing fad anyway. Another 20 years and nobody will even remember it.

[Raine]

13. I always give fake names like Ann Arky, Ruth Less, Ida Slapter, Mary Juana, Sybil Unrest etc

email address [e-mail] etc etc.

[Motown_Johnny]

14. Who's asking?

[IDemo]

17. Jenny, 867-5309 has been used more than once by me

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. No, not really.