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The Hidden Secrets of Online Quizzes
LegionKK points out a story on PC World, sending along this excerpt: "Ultimately, deciding whether you should take an online quiz comes down to a question of trust: Are you comfortable putting your information — personal or financial — into the owner's hands? Remember, even if you don't directly input data, it can be passed along. Such is the case with Facebook, where just opening an application automatically grants its developer access to your entire profile. And don't assume that the developer isn't going to use the information within. [...] The ads can follow you long after you click away, too. Just look at RealAge, a detailed quiz that assigns you a 'biological age' based on your family history and health habits. The site, a recent investigation revealed, takes your most sensitive answers — those about sexual difficulties, say, or signs of depression — and sells them to drug companies looking to market medications."
It's not hard. If you give information, ANY INFORMATION, to anyone for anything you have to check *what* they are going to do with it. This means reading their T&C's, following up all that brings up etc. Or, you can just NOT give out personal information that you don't want spread around.
In the one instance, this means that when you sign up for a website with username, email or password requested, you should *always* check what's going to happen to that information (e.g. using your email for marketing). On the other hand, when you are logged into Facebook and scary warnings pop up about sharing your information... you should think twice before you agree and/or make sure that you NEVER use that account to post anything personal that you wouldn't want shared.
This has never been any different. I've filled in paper surveys which distribute the same personal information to God-knows-who-but-probably-only-the-people-listed-in-the-T&C's.
If you're that worried, don't fill in sexual quizzes on Facebook, or do it under a different identity. To be more honest, given the current state of that site, I'd be more worried that after filling in that kind of quiz, it would blast the results or even my answers to my listed friends and family even if it's just by posting them to my own page. That's a million times worse than having a drug company see a "TRUE" pop up in their advertising database against my Facebook ID. I can ignore the ads...
For some reason, online quizzes always seem to ask me about my predilections for some Cowboy guy...
That is on purpose to filter out those who will be deterred by advertisements with creative spellings (i.e. v1@gr@). The advertising companies are very concerned about not sending unwanted messages to anyone.
My webcomic
that it will be known that if I were an X-Man, I would be Storm.
"I only speak the truth"
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... the need for people to take these quizzes - especially on Facebook - What's your favorite cheese? Which celebrity are you? Does he like you? How Sexy Is Your Name? What Does Your Eye Colour Mean?Some of them are rather clever (RealAge) and yet also evil (RealAge). Okay, maybe not 'kill puppies' evil, but all of these are datamining personal information from the poor suckers that need a webpage to tell them if they're happy or that brown eyes means that they're mysterious. I've been warning folks about this kind of thing for years, to no avail. - Not all apps are trojan horses, but why be a market research tool?
It would be interesting to see an audit of companies like zynga ( http://www.zynga.com/ - zynga is a purveyor of web based games like Vampires, Texas Holdem, Scramble or YoVille on social networking sites such as facebook and myspace) - I'm certain that part of their revenue comes from "market research support". This is the new spam, and it's tricking the gullible into being it's corporate marketing test group.
http://www.bistolas.net
If you use Facebook, then this option should be your best friend. Use it with impunity. I use this for every Application invitation I receive, and the amount has dropped dramatically as I cull the available option.
Because, no, I don't want to join your vampire army, zombie army, mob, poker game, I don't care if you are interested in me or now, and I really don't care what kind of sandwich, beer, flower, country, actor, power tool, car, coffee, breakfast cereal, of language I am. And, no, I don't want every lame-ass developer to have access to any and all information I put up on Facebook.
I just wish you could block people's newsfeed posts on a per application basis, rather than only per user.
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
Personally I don't care if company A sells my information to company B to use in advertising, or if company A just uses my personal information to advertise on behalf of company B. It's still assholes using my information to try to make money. And flood my inbox doing it.
Another good reason not to be on Facebook.
After taking enough of these quizes. . .
. . .the spammers better know enough that I don't need their male enhancement .
You're overcompensating to the point that it's obvious you have a problem.
I joined Facebook last month and was surprised to see how much control was given to the 'apps' by default.
One of the first notices I got was something like "Your friends X and Y have taken this IQ Test - can you beat their score?" Wanting to be a good sport I started the quiz - only to notice plenty of fine print granting the program access to my personal information/friends list, etc.
Needless to say, there was no longer any need to take the quiz, as the intelligence of my friends is now suspect.
Which Feminine Hygiene Product Are You? quiz....
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
The google ad at the top is RealAge Quiz when I looked at the article.
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
Many online quizzes trick people by not requiring any personal information at the start. Only after a person has spent half an hour considering their responses does the site require an email address or even payment to see the results. Since a person is reluctant to throw away the time they've invested, they are more likely to give in, although they never would have agreed to the terms at the start.
I had this happen to me last year, when trying to take a Myers-Briggs style personality test to see if my scores had changed in the last decade. They gave me only the most basic results, and expected payment for the full results. Now I will never take an online quiz again unless they guarantee to give full results without requiring payment, personal details, "completing one of these offers", etc.
If I truly believe that shouldn't the resulting number be around 4?
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
The link in the story goes to page two of the article. Here's Page 1 instead.
Since I use unique e-mails for most everything I do on the 'net, I know when this happens. I've used realage a couple of times and have not received any ads or e-mails to the realage e-mail address.
The method works as I started getting lots of porn advertising to one of my unique addresses. I sent them an e-mail asking them where they got the address and asking them to stop. They didn't so I filter the address.
Same with the occasional forum spam. If I forget to hide my e-mail address (done it once), I start getting spam to that address. I filter the address, changed the e-mail and flipped on "hide e-mail". No further spams from that address.
[John]
Shit better not happen!
Er, why not just stop using Facebook, as I have? Facebook is a total mess. You've pretty much denounced all that Facebook has come to be about.
Because I use Facebook for many other things: keeping up to date on friends and family around the world, keeping up to date on local events like concerts, good DJs, parties, other gatherings, etc., knowing automatically when and where my favorite bands will be touring, seeing photos of friends and family, keeping in touch with my former students, and generally wasting time in other ways. All in one convenient place, rather than spread out across email addresses, mailing lists, multiple websites, etc.
There is a lot more to FaceBook than all of the annoying applications, and I don't not use any applications. There are a few that I use and like, however, a.) I wasn't invited to them, I found them when looking for a certain functionality, and therefore felt that their use outweighed any issues with accessing my info, and b.) I didn't invite any of my friends to them, because I know how annoying that is.
Some of us actually do find FaceBook to be useful.
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
I created a Facebook profile just to see what all the hype was about. I was amazed at how many people sent me quizzes and so forth. It really is a pointless waste of time. Just for fun, I took one just to see...and when it asked for my phone number the mission was aborted.
The people who sent me quizzes are smart people, too. I don't know what it is about finding your IQ, or which Star Wars character you are, or whatever. It obviously gives people some kind of fulfillment that makes it worth surrendering so much personal info. I don't get it.
I guess facebook has to make money somehow, but the quizzes seem more slimy than just using the regular old ads we are all used to.
blah blah blah
Another good reason not to be on Facebook.
You are aware that these things aren't mandatory parts of Facebook, right? It's not all that difficult to just ignore them.
There is *no* technical reason why adding a facebook widget requires access to your personal profile. Facebook devs could have easily set it up so this doesn't occur. It is the most shady part about facebook, and I am surprised there isn't more of an uproar about it.
Your friends have not taken the IQ quiz. What they have done is just taken your friends list and made up scores for them.
I know this because I saw the ad on my wife's page and it said I got a score on a test I had never taken.
"I only speak the truth"
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You're right, JackieBrown, and for the most part, I'm lazy enough to rely on the spam filters.
But, Bigbutt is a bit smarter than either of us. Using unique email addies enables him to IDENTIFY where the trash is coming from, and to do something about it. Contacting a forum admin, or confronting MySpace or Facebook, or whatever.
You and me? Because we're lazy, we don't really KNOW where we slipped up, or who is using our personal info, so there's not much we can do - aside from using spam filters. We certainly can't go back and delete accounts and/or personal info in places that we kinda THOUGHT was confidential.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
I don't know what it is about finding your IQ, or which Star Wars character you are, or whatever. It obviously gives people some kind of fulfillment that makes it worth surrendering so much personal info. I don't get it.
Its because they don't view it as =SUBMITTING= personal info. They view it as a completely local phenomena... like taking a quiz in a magazine. But with the bonus that it tallies up the result for you and clears the form afterward.
They never connect with the fact that the answers are recorded and stored and attached to their online profile... even if you tell them outright. It just doesn't penetrate.
I just sold the fact that dgatwood has anal retention issues to Ex-lax.