MESSAGE
| DATE | 2024-08-17 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] online privacy
|
Should You Make Up Personal Information When Signing Up With Websites?
It seems like every site out there wants to get personal.
When you sign up with a social network, e-tailer or other service, you
often have to give your name, email or phone number, and birthday. Some
sites ask for a street address and more personal or private items, such
as gender or mother’s maiden name.
The demands can feel intrusive, and giving sites all that information
means that hackers could get access to it. So, a lot of people just
sidestep the issue: They lie. When websites ask for information, they
make up names, birthdays, street addresses and anything else you can
think of.
“It’s a common technique for individuals to use false or pseudonymous
contact information and birthdays and other personal details,” says John
Davisson, senior counsel and director of litigation at the nonprofit
Electronic Privacy Information Center. “So that in the event of a
breach, or in the event that the company you’re providing information to
wants to use it in some way, like targeted advertising or to sell to a
data broker, you’re protected because the information is not
high-fidelity information and not going to be of use.”
There are good reasons to give a website fake information, users and
experts say. But the practice also can get you into trouble. Here are
some pros and cons to consider.
Pros: It’s easy and low-risk
As it turns out, lying to sites is fairly easy. Based on tests of the
most popular web destinations in the U.S., you can open accounts with
mostly bogus information: Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, for
instance, all accepted fabricated names and birth dates.
“I usually do not use my name, if it is something that is not required
or [it is] public facing,” says Thorin Klosowski, a security and privacy
activist at the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation. As for birth
date, “I’ll just kind of randomly spin the wheel and [use] whatever it
lands on—January 1, 19 whatever. I don’t think too deeply about it.”
Leah Taylor, a corporate-communications consultant in the Denver area,
uses a bogus email whenever possible. She gives out her main business
email only to companies she wants to have a relationship with, such as
providers of research reports related to her business. She also
considers her cellphone number too private to hand out
Pros: It’s easy and low-risk
As it turns out, lying to sites is fairly easy. Based on tests of the
most popular web destinations in the U.S., you can open accounts with
mostly bogus information: Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, for
instance, all accepted fabricated names and birth dates.
“I usually do not use my name, if it is something that is not required
or [it is] public facing,” says Thorin Klosowski, a security and privacy
activist at the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation. As for birth
date, “I’ll just kind of randomly spin the wheel and [use] whatever it
lands on—January 1, 19 whatever. I don’t think too deeply about it.”
Leah Taylor, a corporate-communications consultant in the Denver area,
uses a bogus email whenever possible. She gives out her main business
email only to companies she wants to have a relationship with, such as
providers of research reports related to her business. She also
considers her cellphone number too private to hand out
(A number of the other most popular online companies, such as Amazon,
Google and Meta, either declined to comment or didn’t respond to
requests for comment on users giving false information. Reddit quoted
its privacy policy, beginning, “At Reddit, we believe that privacy is a
right.” Signing up requires only an email address and one interest area
or favorite meme type.)
Likewise, violating a company’s internal rules on false information most
likely won’t run afoul of the law. The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse
Act provides harsh penalties if someone “intentionally accesses a
computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access.” However,
the Justice Department’s manual on the act says that fibbing users would
only be in violation of the act if they kept using the site after the
company not only caught them but chose to “expressly revoke authorization.”
Intent is also key when it comes to lying online. “If a person
misrepresents him or herself online with the intent to harm or defraud
another, such as a phishing scam, then yes, one can be prosecuted for
online impersonation,” says Michael P. Heiskell, an attorney and past
president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “The
key to said prosecutions is the ‘intent’ element. If their intent is to
avoid being defrauded and to protect their privacy and security, then no
law violation occurs.”
Cons: You could get locked out
Still, users do run risks if they give out phony personal details. Let’s
say a swindler took over your account. To get back in, you will likely
have to provide personal details to prove it is you—and you’re stuck if
you can’t remember what phony information you gave in the first place.
You may also have to present a photo ID that matches what you entered
online.
So, lying can cost you access to your account and all the valuable
information stored there, be it work documents, photos and videos,
emails or chats with friends and family.
Lying could also cause problems if you need a matching ID in real life.
For obvious reasons, all car-rental companies require a driver’s license
for picking up your car. Retailers may require an ID for in-store pickups.
The pros and cons of lying online are ultimately something each person
has to weigh, whoever they are, or claim to be.
Sean Captain is a writer in New York City. He can be reached at
reports-at-wsj.com.
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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