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On Mon, 19 Oct 2015 19:42:05 +0100 Simon Avery <digdilem@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On 19 October 2015 at 16:05, Neil Winchurst <barnaby@xxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote: > > > > > I do get annoyed at the way that so many sites expect you to > > provide, to me, quite unnecessary personal information. If you try > > to set up an account for ITV player, for example, it is free to > > use, but they want a full address, including Post Code, a phone > > number, date of birth and I can't remember what else. Why, for > > heaven's sake? It's a free service. > > > > Nothing's free. > > At the risk of the obvious, and some assumptions: > > Data mining like this is the main way they get paid. ITV's model is to > provide content that brings enough people so that advertisers think > it's worth paying ITV to sell adverts - whether it's on web, another > digital channel - or on tv. > > Your personal information is much more valuable to them for that > primary purpose. > > "Hey, advertisers, look at this guy! > > He's X-Y years old. His income bracket it XX-YY. He's married to Mrs > X and has 1.8 children of age range X-Y. > He lives in Devon, and the average house price in his postcode is ÂX. > We also know he's much more likely to be a homeowner than not, and > will probably vote for X at the next election. Their income is in the > X-Y range, they like cats and support cat charities in preference to > others. They enjoy medical drama shows and the odd bit of lowbrow > trashy reality tv. They do their main weekly food shop at X, but also > buy clothes at Y and are regular online buyers at Z. > > We have XX_Lots of people in this demographic, you should really use > us to use your advertising budget. We're really good at helping you > find the right customers for your product." > > We all know we're marketed and milked. But all of us, including > cynical old me with my toe in a section of that market from the other > POV would be surprised quite how much is known about us even by > someone as small scale as ITV. They'll use that information you give > them and pay other people with other databases some money to enrich > it (such as Experion who have a lot of profiling services) and build > on it and within a second will have a fairly complete picture about > you. > > And then they'll sell it on to anyone that pays them. And then > they'll sell it on. It's worth a lot of money to those who think it's > useful. > > (Don't start me on the DPA and what people think it does to protect > their info - chances are it doesn't protect you as much as you think > it does) > > So don't be surprised when you're asked to provide this info. It's > your choice whether it's worth the service you're trying to access of > course. But that info's probably out there already, we leak huge > amounts of personal info every day. (Unless we're particularly well > disciplined and obsessively careful) > > And I do love Martin's suggestion of filling in their own address. :) Thanks, I knew it was bad but ....!!! In this particular case I used a completely false name, address, DoB etc, and even a special email address which disappears after 8 days. So they did not learn a lot. Added to which, once I found that I was not able to skip the ads I have never used it again. Neil -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq