What Marketers Think They Know About You and What They Really Do

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What Marketers Think They Know About You and What They Really Do

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 4, 2013 @07:01PM from the I-don't-even-know-you-anymore dept.

mattydread23 writes "Data broker Acxiom did something a little unusual this week. It launched a service that lets you see the data they've collected on you. CITEworld writer Ron Miller checked it out, and found it to be mostly laughably inaccurate. Among the things they got wrong included his religion, his interests, and the number of kids he has. But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user."

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I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 19:08 · Score: 5, Interesting

Thought I'd look at my own data, but when they started asking for the last 4 digits of my SSN I decided I didn't care so much about what they knew about me...
1. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 20:05 · Score: 2
  
  I haven't got an SSN you insensitive clod!
2. Re:I'm not falling for that! by icebike · 2013-09-04 20:32 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Exactly.
  I looked at what they were asking for and realized I would be giving them things
  they don't know already. Why would I do that.
  ItsATrap.
  
  --
  Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
3. Re:I'm not falling for that! by StripedCow · 2013-09-04 20:56 · Score: 2
  
  No they're playing a different trick.
  Basically they are saying: the information we have on you is nothing but crap, so please keep using our cookies, and stop questioning our privacy-intruding advertisement business-model.
  In reality, they probably know much more about you than they reveal here.
  
  --
  If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
4. Re:I'm not falling for that! by flyingfsck · 2013-09-04 20:58 · Score: 2
  
  Yeah, but my Mac has a MAC.
  
  --
  Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
5. Re:I'm not falling for that! by gnasher719 · 2013-09-04 21:39 · Score: 1
  
  Basically they are saying: the information we have on you is nothing but crap, so please keep using our cookies, and stop questioning our privacy-intruding advertisement business-model.
  I ordered some stuff on Amazon once as a birthday present for my daughter. It was something that she was interested in at that time, but possibly not anymore. Anyway, she isn't going to buy this again, because I bought it for her as a Christmas present. And I'm not going to buy it for myself, because I'm not interested in it and never was. Amazon bombarded me with adverts to things related to this product for years. Absolutely annoying.
  
  Now if my wife wants anything from Amazon, I buy it. It's all the same bank account, so it doesn't matter whose card is used. So if you look at my purchase history at Amazon, it will look distinctly weird. If you look at the records I bought at iTunes, or my eBay purchases, that's just as weird. Where this is really a violation of privacy is when I open my Mac, go to Amazon, and it shows me everything my wife has been looking at, and vice versa.
6. Re:I'm not falling for that! by StripedCow · 2013-09-04 21:49 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It will only be a matter of time until they find clustering algorithms that can separate your "interests".
  Basically it is like you have three clouds of points. One cloud is your interests. One cloud is for your wife, and one cloud is for your child. For a human, it is easy to tell these clouds apart. For a computer, it will soon be easy too.
  
  --
  If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
7. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 22:06 · Score: 0
  
  Don't think so. My own real interests are all over the place. I like animals, boozing, people, computers, books(all kinds), anything that is hand made, anything that's hitech, gadgets, medical things, science, politics. Pretty much anything that is not sports. And even some sports are also interesting. In addition I usually don't bother to register anywhere, as I will just forget I even had an account. Guess I'm easy prey to advertise to, but separating me from someone else might not be so easy.
8. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Gavagai80 · 2013-09-04 22:19 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It's not as if it's a trick -- they're very explicit that the purpose of the site is for you to tell them all about yourself so they can sell that info. https://aboutthedata.com/portal begins "Who are you? If you want to get the best advertising delivered to you, based on your actual interests, start here. Tell us who you are so we can show you the information used to fuel many of the marketing offers you receive from advertisers using Acxiom's digital marketing data."
  As for who enjoys ads so much that they want to take time out of their day to do unpaid work for advertising companies... well I can't imagine.
  
  --
  This space intentionally left blank
9. Re:I'm not falling for that! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-09-04 22:43 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  It will only be a matter of time until they find clustering algorithms that can separate your "interests".
  Basically it is like you have three clouds of points. One cloud is your interests. One cloud is for your wife, and one cloud is for your child. For a human, it is easy to tell these clouds apart. For a computer, it will soon be easy too.
  I was told by a retired jeweler in my neighborhood that being able to separate customers' "interests" has been a particularly acute problem in that sector for some time: Obviously, as with any business(especially one built on unnecessary luxury goods) they want to cultivate and flatter their good customers; but they ran into the persistent problem that some of their good customers had wives who did open marketing mail addressed to a household; but had not been the recipients of some or all of the jewelry purchased... That is, of course, awkward for all involved.
10. Re:I'm not falling for that! by aitikin · 2013-09-04 22:44 · Score: 2
  
  Actually, they almost certainly already had it. Just based on your name and billing address, a legitimate organization which has gone through a proper series of mandated checks can pull up your credit profile, your history, etc. The last 4 of the SSN allow them to find the information if your name was, for example, "John Smith" and you lived in Boston in an apartment complex that had 4 different Smith families in it.
  
  --
  "Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
11. Re:I'm not falling for that! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-09-04 22:46 · Score: 3
  
  It's not as if it's a trick -- they're very explicit that the purpose of the site is for you to tell them all about yourself so they can sell that info. https://aboutthedata.com/portal begins "Who are you? If you want to get the best advertising delivered to you, based on your actual interests, start here. Tell us who you are so we can show you the information used to fuel many of the marketing offers you receive from advertisers using Acxiom's digital marketing data."
  As for who enjoys ads so much that they want to take time out of their day to do unpaid work for advertising companies... well I can't imagine.
  The question that occurs to me is "Are those assholes at Acxiom good enough to discern 'corrections' that make the data even less accurate than it was, or 'corrections' made to other peoples' profiles?"
  
  It'll be a cold day in hell before I volunteer better data to scum like them; but I think that polluting the database would be my good deed for the day, probably my good deed for the month if I could automate it.
12. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 22:57 · Score: 0
  
  It'll starts getting really interesting for them when they use sites like Tumbler to improve their data.
13. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 22:57 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly, this is quite obviously a scheme to grab information. This guy is a fucking idiot. He claims he reluctantly provided his information for "the story", but I bet what really happened is that he provided his information first and only afterwards did he realise his grave mistake of mining his own data for them and tried to spin it as a journalistic thing.
  
  Anybody thinking about trying this thing out, don't, unless you want to stuff it with false information.
14. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:01 · Score: 0
  
  I have a PO Box as my billing address and I don't provide any portion of my SSN to anyone. It would be impossible for them to have any information on me.
15. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:27 · Score: 0
  
  Exactly... it could be how they're authenticating it really is you so that you can't go and lookup/modify your friend/neighbour/enemy's data.
16. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2013-09-04 23:30 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I have a PO Box as my billing address and I don't provide any portion of my SSN to anyone. It would be impossible for them to have any information on me.
  You just keep right on telling yourself that.
  
  --
  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
17. Re:I'm not falling for that! by king+neckbeard · 2013-09-05 00:13 · Score: 2
  
  But what about people who live double lives or have seemingly contradicting interests? The red blooded conservative crossdresser, for example.
  
  --
  This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
18. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:16 · Score: 0
  
  Because your friends and family never filled out a form with your info for a 50% coupon somewhere? Facebook lately has been pestering me with popups like "[your friend bob] says you live in [city]. Confirm or deny?"
19. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Oligonicella · 2013-09-05 00:18 · Score: 2
  
  And if you're amongst that "almost", you should fill out their database why? I avoided it for precisely the reason the GP stated. It they *don't* already have it, I'm not giving it willingly.
20. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Oligonicella · 2013-09-05 00:21 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  If any site asks you things of that nature, *always* deny. Screw the veracity of their stored data.
21. Re:I'm not falling for that! by fgouget · 2013-09-05 00:22 · Score: 1
  
  Thought I'd look at my own data, but when they started asking for the last 4 digits of my SSN I decided I didn't care so much about what they knew about me...
  So why not give them bad data? For instance give them four random digits for the SSN. If they prevent you from 'logging in' then it means they have that data already so giving it to them won't change anything. And if they let you through it means they did not have that data and still don't and you still get to see your data, except possibly those fields they would have collated from the SSN.
22. Re:I'm not falling for that! by __aaltlg1547 · 2013-09-05 00:32 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The Social Security Administration and the IRS and every employer you've ever had knows it, at the very least. But those are the only people who need to know it and there's no reason to give it to anyone else.
23. Re:I'm not falling for that! by nukenerd · 2013-09-05 00:33 · Score: 1
  
  Gnasher wrote :-
  
  Now if my wife wants anything from Amazon, I buy it. It's all the same bank account, so it doesn't matter whose card is used. ... Where this is really a violation of privacy is when I ... go to Amazon .. it shows me everything my wife has been looking at, and vice versa.
  I'm not trying to defend Amazon, who are shites, but if you share a bank account with her then she is going to see expenditures you made with it, and if she is anything like my wife, want to know what they were for. That's what you get with a joint account. OTOH, if you were "just looking" and don't want her to know, you'd best look for it elsewhere, or open a different account with Amazon with a different bank card. Personally I have about 15 different credit cards and 5 bank accounts, only one of them joint.
24. Re:I'm not falling for that! by __aaltlg1547 · 2013-09-05 00:33 · Score: 1
  
  What makes you think I can't do that?
25. Re:I'm not falling for that! by jasper160 · 2013-09-05 00:39 · Score: 1
  
  You have never used a credit card, applied for a loan, gone to a university, bought real estate, or purchased an automobile? Even the government is selling data now for a buck. Last month the Colorado Secretary of State was caught selling their voter registration DB.
  
  --
  No good deed goes unpunished.
26. Re:I'm not falling for that! by realityimpaired · 2013-09-05 00:41 · Score: 2
  
  Your bank probably has a legitimate reason to know it as well.... though I'm in Canada, and we have different rules from the US.
  A partial Social Insurance Number was on my Equifax credit report last time I pulled it, and I've taken out large loans from the bank before. (> $30,000... I financed a new car through the bank... slightly higher interest than the "1.9%" that the car company was offering, but with the option to pay out early where the car company didn't meant that my loan was paid off faster and ended up costing less).
27. Re:I'm not falling for that! by geminidomino · 2013-09-05 00:42 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Don't forget every insurance company those employers have ever provided benefits for, any bank you've ever had an account with, and if you've gone to college, they've got it, too -- and, if so, trust me, it's out there now.
28. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Cro+Magnon · 2013-09-05 00:45 · Score: 1
  
  The DMV probably has it too. They used to use SSN for the license number, and though they quit that, I bet it's still in their files.
  
  --
  Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
29. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:51 · Score: 0
  
  I do hope you mean they found out about their Christmas presents early.
30. Re:I'm not falling for that! by h4rr4r · 2013-09-05 00:57 · Score: 1
  
  No, only deny if that is where you live.
  If that is not where you live and hopefully very far away, then you accept that.
31. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 01:00 · Score: 0
  
  it's brilliant really. What they are doing is taking the data they think is you and letting you confirm it 100% for them. Their data collection on the web is largely based on a shared cookie system with participating websites, so when you log in and confirm then can validate tons of other data they thought might be you but wasn't sure.
32. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Daetrin · 2013-09-05 01:07 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Out of curiosity, i tried putting down my real name, an old address i used to live at, the real last 4 digits of my SSN, and an incorrect birth day.
  
  It apparently thinks it knows a couple things about me. It thinks it knows how much i make (almost correct.) It thinks i own a couple kinds of credit cards that i don't think i own. It thinks i've made exactly one purchase using those credit cards in the last two years. It thinks that purchase was an online purchase for $80. Notably it can't figure out my political party even though you can easily find my donation records to a prominent political party if you do a search using my real name.
  
  But impressively it does seem to have realized i used a false birthday! It reports my birthday as actually being on an entirely different and equally wrong day.
  
  So either this system is brain dead, or there's someone else out there with the same name as me, who's lived in the same place as i did a couple years ago, has the same last 4 SSN digits, but was born several weeks after i was and makes 99% of their purchases with cash.
  
  --
  This Space Intentionally Left Blank
33. Re:I'm not falling for that! by __aaltlg1547 · 2013-09-05 01:11 · Score: 1
  
  This is AWESOME. They're offering me a way to go in and muck up their data about me by giving them fake names, addresses and SSNs. Here goes with my experiment!
34. Re:I'm not falling for that! by ggraham412 · 2013-09-05 01:14 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Thought I'd look at my own data, but when they started asking for the last 4 digits of my SSN I decided I didn't care so much about what they knew about me...
  Phishing, anyone? I get the feeling that they don't actually have (or perhaps aren't sure of) my personal information like address, full name, DOB, or last 4 digits of SSN linked to my email address, and are using this as a gimmick to get goobers to add value to their proprietary data for free.
  If they wanted to actually provide information to curious people securely, they could have provided a form that asked for a public email address only, and then emailed a report directly to that address. Surely they can look up your info based on an email address. Scumbags.
35. Re:I'm not falling for that! by aitikin · 2013-09-05 01:27 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I have a unique name. You literally will not find anyone with my first name last name combination other than me so it's not like they're getting new info from me (although I did change a number of details of my own volition, as well as check the box about not using this information for marketing about a number of details as well, considering it was completely wrong).
  
  --
  "Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
36. Re:I'm not falling for that! by ggraham412 · 2013-09-05 01:28 · Score: 1
  
  Thought I'd look at my own data, but when they started asking for the last 4 digits of my SSN I decided I didn't care so much about what they knew about me...
  My god, it's some of the same info I give to my brokerage when I call them on the phone. Why would I give it to some random jerk at a marketing firm who could then impersonate me on the phone, along with the keys needed to look up answers to common "security" questions like mother's maiden name, or name of best man at my wedding, etc, that may have been entered into ancestry.com or may have been posted on Facebook?
37. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Notabadguy · 2013-09-05 01:42 · Score: 1
  
  Alright, explored the site.
  last 4 of Social isn't particularly hard to come by. The "opt-out" of their invasion of privacy was...you'll never guess...for you to install a proprietary cookie that will tell their other cookies not to snoop on you. Muah ha ha.
  I did register to see what data they had on me. I discovered that I'm an 81 year old married German man that drives a 2007 Mitubishi Eclipse Spyder Convertible with a Household income of $50,000 - $74,999, who has a special interest in women's apparel, women's footwear, and jewelry.
  Egads. They found me out. Now git off my lawn.
  FYI, not a single piece of that information is correct.
38. Re:I'm not falling for that! by _Shad0w_ · 2013-09-05 01:59 · Score: 1
  
  Facebook decided that two of my friends must have gone to school together at one point, and kept asking them to confirm it. One is from Israel and the other is from The Netherlands.
  
  --
  Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.
39. Re:I'm not falling for that! by ImprovOmega · 2013-09-05 02:01 · Score: 1
  
  If by Christmas presents you mean divorce papers, then yes, I expect they did find out early.
40. Re: I'm not falling for that! by Therad · 2013-09-05 02:04 · Score: 1
  
  Alice, is that you?
41. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 02:20 · Score: 0
  
  To fill it out with completely wrong information? :)
42. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 02:48 · Score: 0
  
  ItsATrap can always be used against 'the system' at hand. Like here, I can give them my name, but a different address and SS# and bam, I fuct them. If everyone did this, not only at the site mentioned here, but at all sites, then this whole fear about the internet could be minimized.
  Also, there's a chance that online advertizing would get interesting.
43. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 03:14 · Score: 0
  
  Uhh, they don't. You see, my friends and family respect my privacy because they are real friends and family. I also don't give out my SSN to them either.
  If you associate with people who are willing to disrespect you like that, you really need to surround yourself with better people.
44. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 03:20 · Score: 0
  
  Nope, I have never done any of those things. The only people who have my SSN are the IRS. I have always done contract work, so I don't even provide it to the companies I have worked at.
45. Re:I'm not falling for that! by pclminion · 2013-09-05 03:28 · Score: 1
  
  Either they are asking because they want to match your SSN to their records (in which case, they already have your SSN), or they do not have your SSN, in which case you can just type in a fake number.
46. Re:I'm not falling for that! by pclminion · 2013-09-05 03:29 · Score: 1
  
  Really? You don't give any part of your SSN to anyone? I take it you are not the beneficiary of any insurance policy and never held a job?
47. Re:I'm not falling for that! by jythie · 2013-09-05 03:49 · Score: 1
  
  I am skeptical that you never supply your SSN to 'anyone' since it tends to be required for many types of applications where your identity needs to be confirmed, and for employment (which by proxy means insurance companies), and it likely exists in various records. Marketers pull from far more sources then what you have put in to websites.
48. Re:I'm not falling for that! by fahrbot-bot · 2013-09-05 04:39 · Score: 1
  
  The question that occurs to me is "Are those assholes at Acxiom good enough to discern 'corrections' that make the data even less accurate than it was, or 'corrections' made to other peoples' profiles?"
  From what I read in the NY Times article, changes/corrections appear, noted as such, along with the original data. I believe the major credit bureaus do the same thing.
  
  --
  It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
49. Re:I'm not falling for that! by jafiwam · 2013-09-05 04:40 · Score: 1
  
  Basically they are saying: the information we have on you is nothing but crap, so please keep using our cookies, and stop questioning our privacy-intruding advertisement business-model.
  I ordered some stuff on Amazon once as a birthday present for my daughter. It was something that she was interested in at that time, but possibly not anymore. Anyway, she isn't going to buy this again, because I bought it for her as a Christmas present. And I'm not going to buy it for myself, because I'm not interested in it and never was. Amazon bombarded me with adverts to things related to this product for years. Absolutely annoying. Now if my wife wants anything from Amazon, I buy it. It's all the same bank account, so it doesn't matter whose card is used. So if you look at my purchase history at Amazon, it will look distinctly weird. If you look at the records I bought at iTunes, or my eBay purchases, that's just as weird. Where this is really a violation of privacy is when I open my Mac, go to Amazon, and it shows me everything my wife has been looking at, and vice versa.
  Amazon.com is funny that way. They offered me a whole page of dildos for mother's day and followed it up with an email with an electric wall plug in model.
  Which is pretty funny on it's face, since my purchasing history right before that day was three knives, a bayonet and a shotgun sling. I do a lot more shopping now (dry food, cleaners, clothes, shoes, household tools and utensils) and now it's a wide variety of ads, but for a little while, my profile was quite screwed up there.
  They must think I am some kind of Ariel Castro or something. ;)
50. Re:I'm not falling for that! by icebike · 2013-09-05 04:50 · Score: 1
  
  ItsATrap can always be used against 'the system' at hand. Like here, I can give them my name, but a different address and SS# and bam,
  And BAM, you've confirmed your name, they see right through the Address lie, because your IP places you in a relatively small area, and you've probably ordered something on line and had it delivered to your real address. Plus they got any browser cookies that you might have had lingering around.
  Unless you feed in entirely bogus stuff top to bottom, you help them in some way.
  And even when you do lie about every single thing on that form, you don't hurt them.
  (But it could come back to haunt you on a credit report or who knows what).
  ItsATrap. Just don't even go to that page.
  
  --
  Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
51. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 05:23 · Score: 0
  
  Nope, I have never done any of those things. The only people who have my SSN are the IRS. I have always done contract work, so I don't even provide it to the companies I have worked at.
  Bullshit.
  Prove it.
52. Re:I'm not falling for that! by mcrbids · 2013-09-05 05:56 · Score: 1
  
  So the next time you call your credit card company, and ask to have your address changed, and they validate you by asking for the last 4 of your social, you can rest assured that it really doesn't matter.
  Just give those 4 digits to all the telemarketers! What could possibly go wrong?
  
  --
  I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
53. Re:I'm not falling for that! by joocemann · 2013-09-05 05:59 · Score: 1
  
  Read their privacy policy. They have none. They share your data with partners and third parties for what seems like any reason at all.
  The service actually looks like a front-end for the mass data business that allows you to give them even more to be even more accurate about you -- this is *not* what most people want, rather it is the exact opposite.
54. Re:I'm not falling for that! by joocemann · 2013-09-05 06:00 · Score: 1
  
  By the way, I used hyperbole to say 'they have none'. They have one, which is why I said to read it. But when you read it, you'll see it has no inkling of privacy in it at all.
55. Re:I'm not falling for that! by ae1294 · 2013-09-05 06:01 · Score: 1
  
  No they're playing a different trick.
  Basically they are saying: the information we have on you is nothing but crap, so please keep using our cookies, and stop questioning our privacy-intruding advertisement business-model.
  In reality, they probably know much more about you than they reveal here.
  Speaking of data sucking sounds does anyone here have charter INTERNET? I think I got the feds rerouting my packets because I now get 20 hops to www.google.com. Hope they like all the gay rape dungeon fury porn I download to prove I'm not gay by not getting aroused at any part except when the man in the pig suit shoots his load and says that's all fokes!
  But really... 20 hops and no ipv6 support? lame.... Let me go get atnt and get 6mbit/1mbit unlimited data over an extremely limited time. O wait no that is worse. but wait theres more Charter DNS servers reroutes a number of speed test sites to their own.. and it gets 180ms pings.... talk about shit service... Shouldn't that be illegal because of fraud by pretending to own a dns name?
  I called them last night and they made me plug my computer in directly and said everything was great.... 180 to 200 is great! yeaah... no.... in southVA... anyone else???
  fuck... these new fema camps better have much better INTERNET if they expect me to confess to shit I never did....
56. Re:I'm not falling for that! by ColdWetDog · 2013-09-05 06:17 · Score: 2
  
  Oh what a tangled web we weave,
  When computers first attempt to perceive.
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
57. Re:I'm not falling for that! by ColdWetDog · 2013-09-05 06:27 · Score: 1
  
  Whatever works for you. My wife and I have separate accounts with the ability of for each of us to look up / transfer funds / whatever to the other account. That way we can keep track of balances individually but keep everything out in the open. We like it that way. YMMV. I cannot even begin to imagine having 15 credit cards ....
  It's also turned out to be useful when the banks temporarily screw up one account by locking it for whatever confused reason their computers dream up. Use the other account. We keep the savings account completely separate so that if someone managed to hack into our checking accounts, they could only get to what limited amounts of money we keep there.
  I know people that keep accounts in four different banks. They're worried about a bank run and think this way they'll be able to get to some of their money. Personally, if things are that bad, I'm just going to pull the boat out of the harbor and wait for the smoke to clear.
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
58. Re:I'm not falling for that! by The_Wilschon · 2013-09-05 06:35 · Score: 1
  
  Use Tor. Give a randomly generated name, birthday, SSN 4, everything. Script it. Run many times.
  
  --
  SIGSEGV caught, terminating
  
  wait... not that kind of sig.
59. Re:I'm not falling for that! by HiThere · 2013-09-05 06:55 · Score: 1
  
  It would probably be better to just usually deny. Say 999 times out of 1,000. If you don't randomly mix a bit of truth with the fiction, you are providing actual information. (Admittedly, it's a bit hard to recover.)
  
  --
  
  I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
60. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 07:10 · Score: 0
  
  There are 3 households in a neighborhood.
  Two use a credit card at the local store.
  One does not, knowing the credit card company data mines purchases. ....Gosh, how ever will they figure out what household number 3 is buying?
61. Re:I'm not falling for that! by nukenerd · 2013-09-05 07:10 · Score: 1
  
  ColdWetDog wrote :-
  
  Whatever works for you.
  I am in the UK if that makes a difference.
  
  I know people that keep accounts in four different banks. They're worried about a bank run and think this way they'll be able to get to some of their money.
  Well, in the UK the government have promised to compensate account holders if their bank goes bust; however only up to a certain amount per bank. I have more than that amount, so I spread it around. Also, savings interest rates yo-yo, and can differ widely between different banks, so I like to be able to move most of it easily to the more favourable banks at the time.
  
  I cannot even begin to imagine having 15 credit cards ....
  I usually only use two, one for internet purchases, and one for shops. Many of the others I started because eg a shop offered me an on-the-spot discount on a purchase if I signed up to their card - although I never use it again. One I took out because I got a mail shot that offered me a crate of wine if I signed up, and another gave 50 GBP credit for signing. I would cancel most, but I know that if I try I will be held on a premium rate phone line while a robot lectures me on how unwise I am being (they don't let you cancel on-line). Some, they tell me, will expire naturally if I don't use them, so I will just let that happen.
62. Re:I'm not falling for that! by wvmarle · 2013-09-05 07:13 · Score: 1
  
  As long as the vast majority of the people falls neatly into predefined categories they're still happy. And leave the fantasising about what exceptions might exist to the people at the fringes.
63. Re:I'm not falling for that! by mrhippo3 · 2013-09-05 07:57 · Score: 1
  
  I saw the page and all the "required" information and said NOPE. Somewhere I saw that with birth city, birth day and birth year this identifies 87% of the US population. I have been using fictional dates for a while, but this will only slow down determined folks. The price of the "deal" to provide that much information for what may be very little does not interest me.
64. Re:I'm not falling for that! by icebike · 2013-09-05 08:36 · Score: 1
  
  If you work under contract (as a principal or owner of a company that has employees, you give the contracting company your company's EIN, not your own SSN.
  Not an uncommon situation for the self employed.
  
  --
  Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
65. Re:I'm not falling for that! by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 15:55 · Score: 1
  
  You just keep right on telling yourself that.
  Damn right. Most people, no matter what precautions they take or where in the world they live, can be found for a few thousand dollars and most Americans can be found for much, much less. It's much more practical to muddy the information they already have about you by mixing plausible lies in with the truth. If they have nothing then sure, go ahead and lie completely but if they already know part of the story, make sure that you fill in the rest with false or misleading information.
66. Re: I'm not falling for that! by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 15:58 · Score: 1
  
  Bob was going to call, but that pesky Chuck keeps listening in. He must be working for the NSA.
67. Re:I'm not falling for that! by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 16:02 · Score: 1
  
  I take it you are not the beneficiary of any insurance policy and never held a job?
  That might not be as uncommon as you think here on Slashdot where the hackers lair is often still located in Mom's basement (-3d6 gp of usual treasure to account for poor conditions).
68. Re:I'm not falling for that! by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 16:13 · Score: 1
  
  My god, it's some of the same info I give to my brokerage when I call them on the phone.
  And it's available to anyone with access to credit check services. If that's all the information that your broker is using to identify you, I suggest that you find a new broker. At the very least they should be asking you for a password and giving you a bit of secret information that you've previously given to them to help you confirm that you're dealing with your broker and not somebody impersonating your broker. This would all be in addition to whatever security questions are required (preferably ones made up by you custom).
69. Re:I'm not falling for that! by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 16:15 · Score: 1
  
  I discovered that I'm an 81 year old married German man that drives a 2007 Mitubishi Eclipse Spyder Convertible with a Household income of $50,000 - $74,999, who has a special interest in women's appar
  Would you say, sir, that that accurately describes your present situation?
70. Re:I'm not falling for that! by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 16:17 · Score: 1
  
  FYI the Numbers from 987-65-4320 to 987-65-4329 are reserved for use in advertisements and are useful when you are also using a fake name and address to go along with it.
71. Re:I'm not falling for that! by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 16:25 · Score: 1
  
  Amazon.com is funny that way. They offered me a whole page of dildos for mother's day and followed it up with an email with an electric wall plug in model. Which is pretty funny on it's face, since my purchasing history right before that day was three knives, a bayonet and a shotgun sling.
  Maybe shotgun slings and dildos are often purchased together?
72. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-06 16:50 · Score: 0
  
  It knows you still haven't figured out how to spell one-letter words.
73. Re:I'm not falling for that! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-06 21:55 · Score: 0
  
  No idea, since there are practically zero neighbourhoods like that. But hey, I can make up examples that suit my argument perfectly while having no relation to reality, as well. It's fun. Not very useful, but fun.
Seriously? by spudnic · 2013-09-04 19:08 · Score: 5, Insightful

And in order to see the data they have about me, I have to give them my name, home address, last four digits of my SSN? Seriously? They're going to make a fortune off of this!

--
load "linux",8,1
1. Re:Seriously? by Intropy · 2013-09-04 19:11 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Alright, here's what we know about you:
  Name, physical address, email address, and last four digits of your ssn.
  Gotcha!
2. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 19:20 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Yup, that surprised me as well. You serve ads to my browser, yet you can't identify me without me identifying myself? Fail.
3. Re:Seriously? by tlambert · 2013-09-04 19:24 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  And in order to see the data they have about me, I have to give them my name, home address, last four digits of my SSN? Seriously? They're going to make a fortune off of this!
  Why don't you want collection agencies being able to correlate your social with contact information so they can harass you? Especially collection agencies who buy old debt packages from people who don't keep very good billing records, like most doctors and dentists, and try to collect bills you've already paid because some idiot left a copy of one in the wrong old cardboard box somewhere?
  It's pretty clear that you don't understand the important fact that, when they screw up, you're obligated to pay them again, and you are just a deadbeat.
  Or maybe they intend to monetize stupidity, which has been a pretty standard trick for as long as there has been commerce...
4. Re:Seriously? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2013-09-04 19:27 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  And in order to see the data they have about me, I have to give them my name, home address, last four digits of my SSN? Seriously?
  
  That's about what the credit reporting agencies want from you in order to get your "free" yearly copy of your credit report. I always thought it was particularly convenient for them too.
  
  --
  When information is power, privacy is freedom.
5. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 19:32 · Score: 1
  
  Worse - if you don't give them this data, they quite happily incorrectly report your credit rating as bad, resulting in refusal to get basic, fundamental services (like bank accounts). It's a very crooked system.
6. Re:Seriously? by CodeBuster · 2013-09-04 19:47 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  And in order to see the data they have about me, I have to give them my name, home address, last four digits of my SSN? Seriously?
  If you think that the data brokers like Lexis Nexis, Choicepoint and these guys don't already have all of that information and more, you're sadly misinformed. Would it shock to know that all of that information is readily available to just about any business owner or attorney for $50 or less and nothing more than a promise (by them to the data broker) that you said that you wanted to do business with them or are a client of theirs?
7. Re:Seriously? by Chrisq · 2013-09-04 21:05 · Score: 0
  
  Alright, here's what we know about you:
  Name, physical address, email address, and last four digits of your ssn.
  Gotcha!
  And you are +1 gullible
8. Re:Seriously? by cupantae · 2013-09-04 21:41 · Score: 1
  
  all of that information is readily available to just about any business owner or attorney for $50 or less
  Is that per person? If it's even $10 per person, GP's point still stands. If they want to collect this data on thousands of people through a broker, that's a serious investment.
  
  --
  --
9. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 22:35 · Score: 0
  
  And in order to see the data they have about me, I have to give them my name, home address, last four digits of my SSN? Seriously?
  That's about what the credit reporting agencies want from you in order to get your "free" yearly copy of your credit report. I always thought it was particularly convenient for them too.
  The credit reporting agencies want that information because their data is all tabulated by SSN and they need to verify your identity. Your "free" credit report is not just "free," but actually free but law. Of course, the CRA will try to trick you into upgrading to include a credit score, which is proprietary information for which they can charge you.
10. Re:Seriously? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2013-09-04 22:51 · Score: 2
  
  You mistake my use of sarcasm quotes. Yes, the law mandates the report, but their lobbyists got to help write the law to make it ok to collect that information which has a dual use of updating your credit report. Since it is dual use, it ain't really free.
  
  --
  When information is power, privacy is freedom.
11. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:09 · Score: 1
  
  And in order to see the data they have about me, I have to give them my name, home address, last four digits of my SSN? Seriously? They're going to make a fortune off of this!
  Why don't you want collection agencies being able to correlate your social with contact information so they can harass you? Especially collection agencies who buy old debt packages from people who don't keep very good billing records, like most doctors and dentists, and try to collect bills you've already paid because some idiot left a copy of one in the wrong old cardboard box somewhere?
  It's pretty clear that you don't understand the important fact that, when they screw up, you're obligated to pay them again, and you are just a deadbeat.
  Or maybe they intend to monetize stupidity, which has been a pretty standard trick for as long as there has been commerce...
  You don't have to pay them again, unless you are enough of an idiot to not have kept proof of payment.
12. Re:Seriously? by VortexCortex · 2013-09-05 00:54 · Score: 2
  
  And you are +1 gullible
  Incorrect. The word "gullible" is deprecated. It was removed from all dictionaries years ago. Look it up.
  What you're thinking of is not "+1 gullible", but "doubleplus ungood thinking".
13. Re:Seriously? by Rob+the+Bold · 2013-09-05 01:06 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  And you are +1 gullible
  Incorrect. The word "gullible" is deprecated. It was removed from all dictionaries years ago. Look it up.
  What you're thinking of is not "+1 gullible", but "doubleplus ungood thinking".
  Never gets old. My sister pulled the old "you know the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary" trick on a roommate long ago. Unlike you, roommate couldn't spell the word, attempted to look it up, failed, and declared "Oh my God, you're right!"
  
  --
  I am not a crackpot.
14. Re:Seriously? by Rob+the+Bold · 2013-09-05 01:18 · Score: 1
  
  You mistake my use of sarcasm quotes. Yes, the law mandates the report, but their lobbyists got to help write the law to make it ok to collect that information which has a dual use of updating your credit report. Since it is dual use, it ain't really free.
  Updating the credit agency's records that way isn't entirely a one-sided benefit for them. Plenty of credit hassles result from two "Jah-Wren Ryel"s being mistaken for each other or even combined into one unholy entity. I'd like to think that a correct address might reduce the chances of that happening. I said I'd like to think that. I have no way to verify it one way or another.
  
  --
  I am not a crackpot.
15. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 01:25 · Score: 0
  
  How is it providing them any information? A credit report requires only name, address, and SSN, the same info you give a bank or someone else who needs to run a credit report on you anyway. They already have that information. And providing a new or wrong address causes the report to not come back, because it doesn't match their records.
16. Re:Seriously? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2013-09-05 01:27 · Score: 1
  
  Updating the credit agency's records that way isn't entirely a one-sided benefit for them.
  My fixing their records for them because they aren't accountable enough to get it right on their own is a a really big stretch of what constitutes a benefit to me.
  Besides, if I cared about that, then I should have that choice untethered to anything else. Personally, I'd rather their records be full of disinformation about me.
  
  --
  When information is power, privacy is freedom.
17. Re:Seriously? by Rob+the+Bold · 2013-09-05 01:33 · Score: 1
  
  Personally, I'd rather their records be full of disinformation about me.
  Personally, I'd like that, too. Emotionally speaking, I'd like all corporate entities to have completely bogus data on me, just to mess with them. Like: "Occupation: Foole".
  It's when the real-world downsides hit that my wife gets cranky. Like if we couldn't get a mortgage or a business buy-in loan for her.
  
  --
  I am not a crackpot.
18. Re:Seriously? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2013-09-05 01:34 · Score: 1
  
  How is it providing them any information? A credit report requires only name, address, and SSN,
  Because I may have moved to a new address.
  
  And providing a new or wrong address causes the report to not come back, because it doesn't match their records.
  No, giving them your most current address causes them to update their records with that information. I actually did it once about 5 years ago to see how it worked.
  
  --
  When information is power, privacy is freedom.
19. Re:Seriously? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2013-09-05 01:59 · Score: 1
  
  I've been fortunate enough that I no longer need anything the credit reporting agencies can influence - their record keeping is 100% downside for me even (especially) when it is accurate. I recognize that is not the case for most people. But that doesn't detract from my point that [i]everyone[/i] should have a choice about what is now dual-use information.
  
  --
  When information is power, privacy is freedom.
20. Re:Seriously? by Somebody+Is+Using+My · 2013-09-05 02:08 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  While data-brokers have my name, address, etc., what they DO NOT have is a 1-to-1 correlation between that data and my PC.
  By using that tool, you are telling them that user Jon Doe can be definitively associated with IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, Network MAC: DE-AD-BE-EF, cookie RANDOM.TXT, email address:user@gullible.com and a specific browser footprint. Essentially, they can tie together all the data HUMANS use to identify one another with all the ways COMPUTERS on the internet identify each other. Without this, data-brokers can make some assumptions but providing the information on aboutthedata.com solidly confirms that connection
  Just because they have some of the pieces is no reason to give them the rest.
21. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 02:51 · Score: 0
  
  No, giving them your most current address causes them to update their records with that information. I actually did it once about 5 years ago to see how it worked.
  I've had all sorts of problems when moving some place without updating an address with a bank, then needing a credit report. A couple years ago I moved for a new job, and had to get a temporary place for a couple months because I got there at the wrong time of the year, and needed to wait for the summer to get a better place on a more common annual lease schedule. My bank didn't have a local branch, so I just did online banking for those few months, and was lazy about updating the address. I ran into trying to get rent some of the better places, because the credit check came back without any matches because I gave them my temporary address. They only went through if I gave old address, and didn't seem to update for a month or two until I got a new bank account.
22. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 03:13 · Score: 0
  
  that's why i don't tell them how to fix it. it's not my responsibility to ensure their data is accurate.
  if you want accurate data you'll have to pay me and it won't be cheap.
23. Re:Seriously? by Dynedain · 2013-09-05 04:08 · Score: 1
  
  If you've ever made an online purchase with a credit card they already have the association with your IP/MAC/etc.
  
  --
  I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
24. Re:Seriously? by sgt_doom · 2013-09-05 05:10 · Score: 1
  
  While I agree with the gist of everything you said, tlambert, I would humbly suggest the paid off "old debts" weren't still being sought "by accident" --- if ya know what I mean?
25. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 05:49 · Score: 0
  
  That's ok, yahoo thinks I'm black, married, and looking to cheat on my wife.
  (None of which are true)
26. Re:Seriously? by ffflala · 2013-09-05 07:08 · Score: 1
  
  Would it shock to know that all of that information is readily available to just about any business owner or attorney for $50 or less and nothing more than a promise (by them to the data broker) that you said that you wanted to do business with them or are a client of theirs?
  You are seriously underestimating the price of paying retail for LexisNexis. A single search on an exclusive database can easily run triple that amount or more -- even if the search returns no results.
27. Re:Seriously? by tlambert · 2013-09-05 07:35 · Score: 1
  
  While I agree with the gist of everything you said, tlambert, I would humbly suggest the paid off "old debts" weren't still being sought "by accident" --- if ya know what I mean?
  I'd rather attribute it to ignorance and poor record keeping than to billing fraud, but yeah, there's also billing fraud sometimes.
28. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 08:53 · Score: 0
  
  No, giving them your most current address causes them to update their records with that information.
  If only it were that easy to get places to update their records and have things changed. It certainly would make it easier to hide if you didn't want to be found. Yet I've had banks that I've had loans with give me great difficulty with keeping my address up to date. I've had issues with creditors looking for previous residents at my address refusing to believe they had moved, even when I had contact info for them because they were easy to find. If people with a direct vested interest in keeping track have that much trouble, it seems unlikely those only connected through a more statistical, needing to be right most of the time, case will put more effort into it.
29. Re:Seriously? by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 15:45 · Score: 1
  
  I must confess that I'm not up on current retail prices, but surely there are resellers who have volume accounts and can run queries on your behalf while passing on at least some of their volume savings to you. Private Investigators probably fall into that category for example. Even so, as others have pointed out, that information is also likely available from other sources if you've ever made a purchase online using your credit card.
30. Re:Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-06 16:55 · Score: 0
  
  In first grade, we learned how to end a sentence using a period. Too bad they don't teach such simple facts anymore.
Good job by awshidahak · 2013-09-04 19:08 · Score: 4, Informative

Great inclusion of the link to the service, samzenpus. I love how I didn't have to hunt for it at all.
1. Re:Good job by BitZtream · 2013-09-04 19:22 · Score: 2
  
  Yea, nothing like clicking through ad-infested site after ad-infested site because the editors are too lazy to actually edit.
  WTF is the point of people like samzenpus and timothy? We have voting for getting stories promoted to the front page already ...
  I forgot, someone other than timothy has to be the one to post his stupid videos and dear diary entries to the front page.
  
  --
  Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
2. Re:Good job by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:46 · Score: 0
  
  Why hunt for it? Read the linked story and this "service" is another attempt at collecting MORE information about you to better learn about you. The author of the article has to be aware of what this, it is an attempt to collect more data on you, or to collect more accurate data.
  You have to fill out a form, which is the same info you need to supply when applying, getting hired for a job, just ridiculous to fill out a form that wants that much information, second and very telling they (seem) to want an email from a network that has a social network. Obviously the author had to use his gmail account.
  Now they have more on you, it is a blatant scam. More are going to this type of BS "we are going to give you want info we know about you for free" only for you to fill out a form which ask for way to much information, this is exactly where the EFF and others continuously fail to protect people. You should only have to give out an email address at best to gain access.
  Of course for the common sense ones we already know, but it is the idiots that participate in this that allow these companies to get away with more and more.
3. Re:Good job by fulldecent · 2013-09-05 00:49 · Score: 2
  
  Sorry to break it to you, but many editors at Slashdot have been replaced with scripts over the years, short scripts. Timothy, on the other hand, is a real human, he works for Microsoft.
  
  --
  -- I was raised on the command line, bitch
Pegged as a Windows user!? by EzInKy · 2013-09-04 19:08 · Score: 2

If so, then your Linux systems are working fine! Just think of all the stupid ads they would serve up if they thought you were actually intelligent!

--
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
1. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · 2013-09-04 19:27 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Sure, go ahead and put me down as a lying, thieving, wife-beating, intravenous drug-using, HIV positive tax-cheating atheist pervert, but DON'T call me a Windows user!
2. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by clemdoc · 2013-09-04 20:01 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  What's your problem with atheism?
3. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by rioki · 2013-09-04 20:13 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  What you say is funny.
  At least for the programmer positions, if you have someone who uses Windows and Visual Studio you are all over the chart, but someone who uses GNU/Linux and vi or emacs you are without fail in the mid to high skill range. What it has to do with intelligence is beyond me. But you can infer interest in IT beyond the 9-5 assignments and few "dumb" people would do that...
4. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 20:46 · Score: 0
  
  Hmm, not sure I'd totally agree there. I've seen equal numbers flounder around when actually crafting something of meaning in whatever they think 'c++' is (usually it's C with fancy structures). Many don't know how to setup larger projects and most certainly can't start from a blank slate and create something useful. Whatever they can feed to gcc in one line of bash is the best they can do by themselves. Probably does skew higher though but just slightly.
5. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by flyingfsck · 2013-09-04 21:00 · Score: 0, Flamebait
  
  Nope - *nothing* is worse than a born again Christian.
  
  --
  Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
6. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 22:37 · Score: 0
  
  Just like not collecting stamps is the assholier than thou hobby?
7. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by oodaloop · 2013-09-04 22:41 · Score: 1
  
  Who's scruffy looking?
  
  --
  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
8. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 22:52 · Score: 0, Flamebait
  
  I've yet to witness any kind of Christian anywhere near as preachy as those atheism sermons that keep cropping up.
9. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by wbr1 · 2013-09-04 23:15 · Score: 1
  
  So, only Linux users are into pegging? Your title confuses me!
  
  --
  Silence is a state of mime.
10. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2013-09-04 23:49 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Thou art a tool.
  Let me assist thee.
  Thy grammar is atrocious.
  The mistake was thine.
  *waits for -1, Informative score*
  
  --
  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
11. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by vettemph · 2013-09-05 00:09 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  What's your problem with Pervert?
  
  --
  The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
12. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by __aaltlg1547 · 2013-09-05 00:39 · Score: 1
  
  Never met one of those. Atheists don't seem to commonly believe that they have been or will be born again.
13. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by VortexCortex · 2013-09-05 01:00 · Score: 1
  
  Except for a born again Atheist!
  That's why the religious vilify cloning.
14. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 01:37 · Score: 0
  
  If someone's hobby is spending a lot of time telling people they don't collect stamps, and they can't do it with an entertaining spin (which is harder if other people are doing it too), then they will probably come off as an asshole.
  John: "Hey Bob, I finally got that set of Zanzibar stamps."
  Bob: "Cool, I was thinking of getting some old British colonial stamps."
  Sam: "I don't collect stamps."
  Bob: "We know Sam, you've told us many times before."
  Sam: "Why bother collecting stamps, you're just waisting your time and money?"
  John: "Here we go again, Sam, I don't complain when you talk to other people about things I'm not interested in. Feel free to stay out of our conversation if you have a problem with stamp collecting"
  Even as an atheist myself, I've had proportionately more problems with other atheist interjecting into conversations inappropriately to assert themselves.
15. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by WhatAreYouDoingHere · 2013-09-05 04:23 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for that!
  Isaiah 65:5 says: "Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day."
  As far as I can tell, that's where the "holier than thou" phrase is based from... with an implied verb of art [holier than thou art], otherwise it doesn't really make sense to use a subjective noun as an object.
  So yes, you were informative... though your post is currently +2 Troll :)
  
  --
  "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
16. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by fahrbot-bot · 2013-09-05 04:50 · Score: 1
  
  So, only Linux users are into pegging? Your title confuses me!
  At least for the programmer positions, ...
  Given the recent economic climate, it seems "programmer positions" are variations of bent over and gagged. And don't fall for that management line, "employees are our most valuable asset," because management is standing behind you unzipping their pants...
  
  --
  It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
17. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by xelah · 2013-09-05 04:53 · Score: 1
  
  There isn't anything shameful about being HIV positive or legal forms of pervert (and some illegal ones, depending on where you live) either. All of these groups are widely discriminated against, though :( You probably don't want your insurance company, prospective employer or the policeman accusing you of speeding to know.
18. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2013-09-05 05:16 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I posted that somewhat in haste after a long day that started out short on sleep. Please accept my apologies.
  
  --
  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
19. Re:Pegged as a Windows user!? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 05:51 · Score: 0
  
  Even as an atheist myself, I've had proportionately more problems with other atheist interjecting into conversations inappropriately to assert themselves.
  That still doesn't make atheism a religion, which is the point of the hobby comparison.
Doesn't matter by Intropy · 2013-09-04 19:08 · Score: 5, Interesting

They're not _really_ trying to figure out data about who you are because they don't really care. What they care about are what ads are most likely to affect you. That's a clustering problem not an identification problem. And if those clusters happen to have similarities to a well-defined, named demographic category that just helps humans talk about them.
1. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 19:21 · Score: 0
  
  No, what they really seem to want is to collect your name, email, home address, DOB and last four digits of your SSN.
2. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 20:04 · Score: 1
  
  Building the profile of things that are most likely to affect you entails two things:
  - joining disparate pieces of data about you that you may scatter around the web
  - acting on that data when you browse again, to deliver the most targeted ads and offers
  Both problems are dealing with identification and binding data to a real person. What you could say is that the real name and SSN is not that important in this equation, they are much more interested in the browsing habits of anonymous user with cookie xyz because that's where the bacon comes from. That may or may not be true depending on the specific marketers. Cold caller insurance types care much more about your real identity than web advertisers.
  For me, the fact that a random agency has a profile about me that identifies me by name, address and govt ID number is a big WTF in itself, no matter how inaccurate is the rest of data. Nobody should collect this data except authorized by me. Must be those pesky European privacy laws.
3. Re:Doesn't matter by CodeBuster · 2013-09-04 20:07 · Score: 1
  
  No, what they really seem to want is to collect your name, email, home address, DOB and last four digits of your SSN.
  Do you honestly believe that they don't already have a database with that information on every American that has ever applied for credit, filed a tax return, paid property taxes or had anything delivered to their home ever? If you think that that information is private, you've got another thing coming. It's all for sale from the likes of Lexis Nexis, Choicepoint or any number of others in the data business.
4. Re:Doesn't matter by NoKaOi · 2013-09-04 20:42 · Score: 2
  
  They're not _really_ trying to figure out data about who you are because they don't really care. What they care about are what ads are most likely to affect you. That's a clustering problem not an identification problem. And if those clusters happen to have similarities to a well-defined, named demographic category that just helps humans talk about them.
  What is the data broker's market? Advertisers (those who purchase ads), not necessarily the advertiser's customers. Their job isn't to sell the advertiser's product. Their job is to sell ad space to advertisers. So the data brokers marketing success doesn't have to come from actually knowing who their advertiser's potential customers are, they only need to convince their advertiser's that they do. If they happen to get it right sometimes then that's just gravy.
5. Re:Doesn't matter by blackest_k · 2013-09-04 21:32 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think those pesky European privacy laws are working very well in the UK at least
  http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/News/Council-pockets-over-1000-selling-voters-personal-details-20130903174019.htm
  "Councils up and down the country have made thousands of pounds after registers of votersâ(TM) names and addresses were sold to the marketing firms, driving schools and estate agents."
  
  The electoral register is available for anybody to view in person. But by selling an edited database of the information, councils are helping companies to send out thousands of unsolicited letters with a few clicks of a computer mouse.
  Bedford Borough Council has defended its actions, stating: "The fee is set nationally, by law, and we are legally obliged by the government to sell the data on the edited register unless individuals chose to opt-out.â
  It's not expensive either bringing in just Â£1300 in 5 years from all the sales combined.
  
  --
  Blarney Quality Restaurant, Plants
6. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 22:45 · Score: 0
  
  Obviously there is a database of name/ssn/address. Do you think doubleclick is able to connect that database to your browser cookies with any kind of accuracy?
  From your cookies, they can find out what sort of books you like, what your favorite hobbies are (or at least the hobbies of people who use your computer). Depending how you use google maps, they may have a pretty good idea of your home and work addresses, and at least your neighborhood. That should give them a ballpark income. They don't care about your name.
7. Re:Doesn't matter by canadiannomad · 2013-09-04 23:01 · Score: 1
  
  They have that, but what they want is to index that to a browser fingerprint/supercookie using the likes of https://panopticlick.eff.org/ that is a master key type solution.... Even the ones that fall through those, cracks can probably be mostly pinned down by their neighbours based on IP addresses, other computers on the network, and other identifying information that leaks through the cracks.
  Then if they can convince you to improve the results of their assessment of you, even better. The real gem of this is to link the computer user to information they can't usually get directly. Also they are probably having you agree to some type of TOS/Privacy Policy/Agreement that grants them more permission then would normally be acceptable outside of such agreement.
  
  --
  Hmm, the humour and sarcasm seem to have been be lost on you.
8. Re:Doesn't matter by raburton · 2013-09-05 00:11 · Score: 2
  
  Every year when you fill the in electoral roll return there is a tick box for every person listed to choose to opt out of the version of the register that is sold. Despite what it says in the linked article it is very clear and the purpose is explained. While it does seem a bit crap that they might want to sell this in the first place it is very easy to opt out if you actually read the form. Any time you put your name to something and don't bother to read it and only get spam in return you should consider you got off lightly. I have to assume those who don't tick it don't mind spam and if that contributes a few pounds to the local council then great, they need all the extra income they can get (perhaps if they were allowed to charge more for the list they could afford to bring back weekly bin collections!).
9. Re:Doesn't matter by Oligonicella · 2013-09-05 00:36 · Score: 1
  
  Not at all the point. Explain why I should verify their database for them explicitly so they can shove directed advertising my way. I *know* they don't have accurate info on me because I've seen what "they" have from other sources. Why should I improve their blipvert serving?
10. Re:Doesn't matter by __aaltlg1547 · 2013-09-05 00:42 · Score: 1
  
  If they did, they wouldn't ask. They'd just ask for one or two of those pieces of information. Just my email address should be enough to uniquely identify me if they have the database you think they have. Instead, what they're asking for is information that will allow them to tie multiple records from different sources together and build a unified profile that they will then sell.
11. Re:Doesn't matter by blackest_k · 2013-09-05 00:49 · Score: 1
  
  However chances are there is somebody at the council processing applications for the register data and I doubt the Â£260 per year average revenue (in this case) covers the cost of nearly giving away the data.
  
  --
  Blarney Quality Restaurant, Plants
12. Re:Doesn't matter by sgt_doom · 2013-09-05 05:11 · Score: 1
  
  You said it, dude!
13. Re:Doesn't matter by wvmarle · 2013-09-05 14:37 · Score: 1
  
  There are multiple such advertising space brokers, they compete with one another.
  Now why this "personal data" and "targeted advertising" is so big business, is still beyond me. It can be done so much simpler.
  From personal experience I know that (at least five years ago) Google AdWords was a pretty efficient advertising tool. I got click-through rates on ads posted on their search page of 1-2% (the "affiliate network" got Who my customers are, Google doesn't know. They just know that when searching for certain keywords they may be interested in my service, and post my ads to those visitors. They try to do the same with their "affiliate network" of third-party web sites showing Google ads, but not exactly successful.
  Now there are two forms of advertising: one that wants to directly attract customers to a service (what I wanted), and then there is the general brand-awareness advertising (like e.g. coca cola is doing). They buy advertising space left right and centre to get their brand name and logo out, and in the minds of their customers. This is the kind of advertiser that wants to know the demographic of their customers.
  But then again, traditionally they would choose the locations for outdoor advertising and specific magazines/paper for print advertising, based on the demographic targeted by those media. Coca Cola would not advertise in a magazine for the elderly, for example. Nor would they advertise on a tech site like Slashdot. More likely they would advertise where the teens and younger kids go.
  So why do they need to know individual web surfers? The sites they visit should be a very obvious clue of what they're interested in there and then. Now I visit Slashdot, my mind is in tech-interest mode. Maybe in an hour I go search for gardening stuff, then I may be interested in learning about gardening products. My visits to gardening web sites should be enough of a clue: gardening-related ads on gardening sites, tech-related ads on Slashdot. How hard can it be?
14. Re:Doesn't matter by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 15:16 · Score: 1
  
  That's a good point. Browser fingerprinting can definitely improve the value of whatever other information they think that they have. However, even that can be defended against if one installs the proper extensions. My personal favorites, in addition to the usual trifecta of AdBlock, NoScript and Ghostery are FireGloves (randomizes information that could otherwise be used to generate a browser fingerprint) and Secret Agent (rotates your user agent string randomly using a customizable list ala the rotating license plates on the bond cars).
Give me the link! by bkk_diesel · 2013-09-04 19:10 · Score: 5, Informative

I had to click through to a third page before getting a link to the relevant website.
The Acxiom site is found at https://aboutthedata.com/.
Privacy policy (FWIW) is here: https://aboutthedata.com/privacy/
The actual website by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 19:12 · Score: 0

Here: https://aboutthedata.com/
And yes I gave them the last 4 digits of my social, because I was curious enough. Apparently I'm interested in absolutely everything and have 3 kids! News to me.
if i correct my data by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 19:24 · Score: 0

how much am i compensated?
anything under 4 figures and you can stuff it
But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user. by larpon · 2013-09-04 19:25 · Score: 1

*GASP*
1. Re:But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 19:36 · Score: 0
  
  Why is that bad?
2. Re:But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 19:42 · Score: 0
  
  As long as the marketeers data is blossoming with mis-information, consumers can rejoice. It would be completely scary if their data nailed every last detail down exactly.
3. Re:But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user. by CodeBuster · 2013-09-04 20:01 · Score: 1
  
  For extra confusion, try and find people in the same general geographic region with the same or similar name to yours and use bits and pieces of that information when filling out non-essential forms and such. The goal is to trick their databases into confusing you with somebody else when all they have is the name and not the SSN so that your profile becomes a confused jumble of inaccurate, false, misleading and cross pollinated information from many other real and fake people with the same or similar names. Obviously, this works better if your surname and first name are relatively more common.
4. Re:But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user. by flyingfsck · 2013-09-04 21:03 · Score: 1
  
  Agent Smith I presume?
  
  --
  Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
5. Re:But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 22:37 · Score: 0
  
  Slashdot just wouldn't be Slashdot without juvenile trolling right there in the summary.
6. Re:But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 01:46 · Score: 0
  
  Why? If it is some piece of information that isn't important, like what OS you use, what does it matter if they have that right or wrong? If it was something that could impact your life more (at least in some situations and circles), like religion or sexual orientation, couldn't it being wrong have as much potential to do damage as it being right?
7. Re:But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user. by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2013-09-05 02:33 · Score: 1
  
  This has apparently already happened to me since I keep getting debt collection calls for someone who is not be but is 15 years older. It isn't just credit cards but a car loan and student loans as well. Every couple of years those bad debts get sold to some other company who eventually think I am the person they are looking for and starts demanding payment. Maybe I just need to poison the data some more.
  
  --
  Time to offend someone
8. Re:But worst? It pegged him as a Windows user. by CodeBuster · 2013-09-05 15:38 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe I just need to poison the data some more.
  Couldn't hurt. Although I always use completely fake details when they don't already have at least some information on me already. A good source for fake ID information that will pass most sanity checks like zip code and address combinations or state and area codes is Fake Name Generator. As for the debt collectors, ask them to provide information concerning the debt, such as when it was first incurred, without giving out or confirming any information about yourself. If they refuse then tell them that the person they're looking for cannot be reached at your number or address, which is the truth in your case right? If they disclose the age of the debt and it's beyond the statute of limitations for collection you wouldn't be obligated to pay even if it was your debt and it can be a violation of law for them to continue calling depending upon where you live. Finally, you should note the number that they're calling from so that you can add it to your blocked call list on your phone account. The caller id number might be spoofed, but it couldn't hurt. While your at it you should also set your phone account to 'unblock or I won't take your call'. That way, you don't get 'private call' in the caller ID if they actually want to ring through.
And this is why by phantomfive · 2013-09-04 19:28 · Score: 4, Insightful

This is why Google launched Google+, so they could get all the info about you that Facebook got from you freely. It's also why they didn't care that is was a ghost-town after a few weeks, they got all the info they needed.

--
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
1. Re:And this is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 20:49 · Score: 1
  
  This is why Google launched Google+, so they could get all the info about you that Facebook got from you freely. It's also why they didn't care that is was a ghost-town after a few weeks, they got all the info they needed.
  Yes, because after years of reading people's Gmail accounts, they apparently didn't have all the info they needed...
2. Re:And this is why by phantomfive · 2013-09-04 21:00 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, because after years of reading people's Gmail accounts, they apparently didn't have all the info they needed...
  Surprising, isn't it? And yet, when in all your years of emailing have you ever written, "I am a boy?" And if you had, would it be accurate?
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
3. Re:And this is why by N1AK · 2013-09-04 21:27 · Score: 2
  
  If you don't think that Google can get a 95% accurate match to gender based on someone's email over a couple of years then that just highlights your lack of imagination or understanding of what people smarter than you can manage. Add in all the other accounts you'll link to Google, login to via google or use google for analytics etc. Frankly they don't really care whether you're a 'boy' or not, they care about whether you like 'football', 'fps games' and 'lady porn' and gender is just an outdated proxy they would have used to guestimate that in the past.
  
  Hint: Unless you're intentionally trying to obfuscate then just checking whether you get any official emails starting with Mr/Mrs/Ms is all they need.
4. Re:And this is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:56 · Score: 0
  
  By the direct ads I get based on my mailbox I thought they wouldn't need Google plus...
5. Re:And this is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:15 · Score: 0
  
  Hint: Unless you're intentionally trying to obfuscate then just checking whether you get any official emails starting with Mr/Mrs/Ms is all they need.
  Ok, I did the check. The result was: No.
  What does that tell me about the gender of the account owner?
6. Re:And this is why by phantomfive · 2013-09-05 04:08 · Score: 1
  
  I've never gotten an email that started with Mr/Mrs/Ms. Marketers, who are Google's customers, care about gender, and for good reason. Your guess that Google can get a 95% accurate match to gender is just a guess.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
7. Re:And this is why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 04:33 · Score: 0
  
  What is this facebook you speak of? Is that like the police album of mugshots?
  Seriously screw data harvesters.
Easy by Alsee · 2013-09-04 19:28 · Score: 5, Insightful

What marketers know about me:
He's running AdBlock.
What marketers think they know:
Everyone wants to see relevant ads.
He's running AdBlock because he's annoyed that the ads he's been seeing aren't relevant enough.
-

--
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
1. Re:Easy by ruir · 2013-09-04 19:44 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Think is the correct word. I don't see any adds at all. In sites like CNN I don't even think of opening video links. If I ever open a video link with ads, I close it. If I am *really* interested into seeing it, I take the time to search it into youtube or google instead of seeing it. If I don't find it, I suck it and don't see it.
2. Re:Easy by tommeke100 · 2013-09-04 21:54 · Score: 1
  
  because you're not getting ads on youtube?
3. Re:Easy by Gavagai80 · 2013-09-04 22:26 · Score: 1
  
  Adblock removes youtube ads. Even chrome adblock, surprisingly (chrome forbids youtube downloader extensions, so one would think they'd forbid youtube ad removal extensions).
  
  --
  This space intentionally left blank
4. Re:Easy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:01 · Score: 0
  
  I never get ads on youtube. Do you?
5. Re:Easy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:22 · Score: 0
  
  It is also quite stupid. I actually don't want to see relevant adds, why would I want to see adds of products I already use.
  I used to not run addblocking and ghostery, all I got was adds for eve online, because I was playing eve online, as soon as I stopped playing I got adds for LOTRO which I was actually playing then, etc.
6. Re:Easy by raburton · 2013-09-05 00:21 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  He's running AdBlock because he's annoyed that the ads he's been seeing aren't relevant enough.
  That seems to be the point they're missing (deliberately I'm sure). I don't want to see ads, but I especially don't want to see relevant ads. I remember during the various stages of banning advertising of smoking in the UK they used to talk about not promoting smoking just brand awareness to get existing smokers to switch to them. This was of course rubbish, and the same is true for most advertising. They aren't trying to get you to buy a product you are already planning to, just from them instead of someone else, they are trying to get you to buy something you don't want or didn't realise you wanted (but were perfectly happy without). If I actually wanted something I would search for it myself, I'm not going to wait till an ad on my favourite website suggests it. So more relevant ads means finding a weakness in you they can exploit to sell you some crap you don't really want.
7. Re:Easy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 01:26 · Score: 0
  
  Score -1, Idiot. Adblock blocks youtube ads.
8. Re:Easy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 01:44 · Score: 1
  
  Even if they manage to show me scaryily targeted specific ads. I'm still going to block them all.
  Why? Because fuck you thats why.
9. Re:Easy by ruir · 2013-09-05 03:06 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly, AdBlock+ClickToFlash are FANTASTIC. If a site does not allow adblockers, I stop visiting it, period. The Internet has a lot of alternatives.
10. Re:Easy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 04:36 · Score: 0
  
  Forbidden downloaders? Really? When its as simple as right-click, view source, copy, paste, save as? Oh noes dont stop my add ons.
  If your browser can view it you can download it (DRM aside).
11. Re:Easy by wvmarle · 2013-09-05 14:52 · Score: 1
  
  For me, they're not too far off.
  There are actually two sites where I see ads.
  The first is Google. I switched off ABP to see Google's ads - when doing a general search I can easily ignore them (they're not intrusive - if they were, I'd have ABP on), and when searching for commercial offerings, actual stuff to buy, they tend to give me better results than the search results, as the ads link to indeed places where I can buy the thing I'm searching for. The general search results tend to give information about the product, but not where to buy it.
  The second is a recycling business related web site, that hosts their own ads, which is why ABP misses them. Very relevant ads, targeting exactly the audience of that site. They're not too intrusive (and the few flash-based ones are blocked by FlashBlock), so that's OK.
Nothing unusual by BitZtream · 2013-09-04 19:32 · Score: 2

Whats unusual about them asking you for your personal identifiable information for them to update their records, which then in turn they sell to advertiser, debit collectors and credit card companies?
Are you really so stupid as to think this isn't benefiting them in multiple ways? I don't give this information to any random person off the street, why the hell would I give it to the exact people I don't want to have it?

--
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
1. Re:Nothing unusual by CodeBuster · 2013-09-04 19:55 · Score: 1
  
  why the hell would I give it to the exact people I don't want to have it?
  They already have the minimum biographical info that they're asking for, that's public information unless you're in the witness protection program. What they don't have is the other related data which they're asking you to update for them. Now of course you wouldn't want to correct their inaccurate records of your other data, but it's nice to see that all of the disinformation and database poisoning is having its intended effects.
Pitty the site appears to be US-only by jonwil · 2013-09-04 19:39 · Score: 4, Interesting

Might be interesting to see what this data mob has on me and how accurate it is...
1. Re:Pitty the site appears to be US-only by Trailer+Trash · 2013-09-05 01:25 · Score: 1
  
  Just an FYI - the only thing they got right about me was the house value, which happens to be very public information that anybody can see. The rest of it was not just wrong but hilariously so. It turns out that I'm a mail-order buyer (never), single (not for the last 15 years), have spent $200 online once (Amazon Prime, need I say more?), have no vehicles, etc. I pity anybody who pays money for this "data".
  
  --
  Do you have ESP?
From what they know about me... by Maxo-Texas · 2013-09-04 20:09 · Score: 4, Funny

I'm a male or female or a cat who makes between $21,000 and $250,000 dollars
I'm between 16 and 79.
I apparently like boobs.
I'm either unemployed, self employed or work for others as a manager or employee.
I may have good credit.

--
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
1. Re:From what they know about me... by oodaloop · 2013-09-04 22:43 · Score: 1
  
  They know way less about me. Most pages say they know nothing. I'm the happiest since...since...since I switched from Windows!
  
  --
  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
2. Re:From what they know about me... by SalafranceUnderhill · 2013-09-04 23:07 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Hey, I'm a cat that likes boobs, too...
  Wanna hook up?
3. Re:From what they know about me... by intermodal · 2013-09-05 01:36 · Score: 1
  
  Meet hot single cats who like boobs in your area!
  
  --
  In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
4. Re:From what they know about me... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 03:19 · Score: 0
  
  Any cat would love a pair of boobies for lunch. Or tits, for that matter.
Do you really want them to just ask for a name? by L.+J.+Beauregard · 2013-09-04 20:13 · Score: 4, Insightful

If they only asked for a name, anyone including your psycho ex-girlfriend could get this information.

--
Ooh, moderator points! Five more idjits go to Minus One Hell!
Delendae sunt RIAA, MPAA et Windoze
1. Re:Do you really want them to just ask for a name? by phantomfive · 2013-09-04 21:08 · Score: 1
  
  If they only asked for a name, anyone including your psycho ex-girlfriend could get this information.
  Your psycho ex-girlfriend probably already has your social security number. She had plenty of opportunity to get it, after all.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
2. Re:Do you really want them to just ask for a name? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 21:53 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, they sell this info to a lot of third parties, without your agreement, but when you want to see the info, then they just have to make sure it's you by collecting some more.
3. Re:Do you really want them to just ask for a name? by Maow · 2013-09-05 00:36 · Score: 1
  
  (posting to undo accidental troll moderation)
Marketers Nowadays think they know everything by adstopshop · 2013-09-04 20:15 · Score: 3, Interesting

Interesting article though. Nowadays, marketers think they know everything about everything but that's not true as this article proves it. I am a marketer as well and I realize that the more I read about the marketing as discipline, the more I realize I don't know almost anything about it.

--
http://adstopshop.com - Free Classified Ads Listings Website http://gigs.adstopshop.com - Freelance Gigs/Jobs Website
1. Re:Marketers Nowadays think they know everything by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:05 · Score: 0
  
  Kill yourself.
US only by Andtalath · 2013-09-04 20:21 · Score: 1

US only makes it very dull.
the former are irrelevant. by nimbius · 2013-09-04 20:23 · Score: 1

so long as we know what mailbox to stuff, what phone number to ring, the marketing can continue until accuracy improves. It could be argued that any information about a potential customer at the onset of marketing is irrelevant so long as you accurately determine the operating system being used and eventually, the browser.

Our customers, that is other major corporations, are more interested in our products browsing habits. Browser tracking, third party cookies and history snooping will quickly and accurately determine what our customers likes and dislikes are. in two or three days we'll know more about her than her gynecologist and her parents combined.

--
Good people go to bed earlier.
Scam by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 20:25 · Score: 0

This is such a transparent scam. Give me all your data...
1. Re:Scam by cas2000 · 2013-09-04 20:54 · Score: 2
  
  and the errors are probably deliberate - maybe you'll get annoyed enough by them to correct the information.
What they know? Apparently nothing! by petes_PoV · 2013-09-04 20:53 · Score: 1

I have to give them my name, home address ...

And since they have to ask for all that data, that tells you they know nothing about you and your online presence.

--
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
1. Re:What they know? Apparently nothing! by dcw3 · 2013-09-05 00:55 · Score: 1
  
  I have to give them my name, home address ...
  And since they have to ask for all that data, that tells you they know nothing about you and your online presence.
  Really? What makes you think they're not just trying to confirm what they already have, or who you are?
  
  --
  Just another day in Paradise
2. Re:What they know? Apparently nothing! by Stewie241 · 2013-09-05 01:25 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Nah. They have to ask verification questions. It's just like when Google called me the other day telling me my GMail account has been hacked into. In order for them to verify who I was, I had to give them my name, my address, two phone numbers, another email address, my mother's maiden name, the credit card number that was registered on my Play account and a list of all the addresses I had lived at in the last five years. I gave them that information so they would know it was really me and then they helped get my account sorted out.
3. Re:What they know? Apparently nothing! by pne · 2013-09-05 04:59 · Score: 1
  
  Nah. They have to ask verification questions. It's just like when Google called me the other day telling me my GMail account has been hacked into. In order for them to verify who I was, I had to give them my name, my address, two phone numbers, another email address, my mother's maiden name, the credit card number that was registered on my Play account and a list of all the addresses I had lived at in the last five years. I gave them that information so they would know it was really me and then they helped get my account sorted out.
  And which questions did you ask Google to confirm that it was really them calling you?
  
  --
  Esli epei etot cumprenan, shris soa Sfaha.
Acxiom's Catch-22 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 20:55 · Score: 0

It might be that the only way to give the information they know about you to you is to have you put your correct info so the correct information is given back. Not that it isn't also a honeypot to give more correlating personal info to them (give us your info so we can show you what info we have about you, lol).
Click here to see what they have on you by Taco+Cowboy · 2013-09-04 21:04 · Score: 5, Informative

TFA says:

"Data broker Acxiom did something a little unusual this week. It launched a service that lets you see the data they've collected on you"
Unfortunately that link got you to a page on www.citeworld.com which carries a link to www.nytimes.com
After a wild goose chase I finally got that link ---
https://aboutthedata.com/

--
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
1. Re:Click here to see what they have on you by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:25 · Score: 0
  
  You clearly failed to read the article then.
  The citeworld article linked in the summary has a link direct to Aboutthedata.com in the 4th paragraph.
  
  Where do they get this information? Well, according to the Acxiom Aboutthedata.com web site, it comes from public records, surveys and questionnaires we might have filled out, and other undefined collection points. Lessons to be learned from that little bit of information: Be careful what you share about yourself because someone is always collecting it.
2. Re:Click here to see what they have on you by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:56 · Score: 0
  
  and they still have "Click Here" as the link text to sign up, rather than "Sign Up" *sigh*
3. Re:Click here to see what they have on you by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:59 · Score: 0
  
  wild goose chase == RTFA
4. Re:Click here to see what they have on you by adisakp · 2013-09-05 03:50 · Score: 1
  
  Unfortunately that link got you to a page on www.citeworld.com which carries a link to www.nytimes.com
  After a wild goose chase I finally got that link ---
  https://aboutthedata.com/
  And that site is down :-(
5. Re:Click here to see what they have on you by Laxori666 · 2013-09-05 03:55 · Score: 2
  
  I must be doing great - I click on the site and get a "No data received" message!
6. Re:Click here to see what they have on you by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 07:12 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I once entered my YouTube username into one of those sites that track YouTube stats. Since it had no data, it stated it would start tracking from now on.
  Oh, great.
what slashdotters think they know but they dont... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 21:14 · Score: 1

statistics.
and an understanding that marketing in this form is a stochastic game. on average, it works much better than doing nothing at all, but will be sure to make errors in individual cases.
Apprently I aged 34 years without knowing it! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 21:16 · Score: 0

Well, at least now I know why I keep getting ads in the mail for hearing aids and geriatric supplies. All the data was wildly inaccurate except my name home address and that I am a customer of an internet service provider.
Marketers are dumb... by Rhurazz12 · 2013-09-04 21:40 · Score: 0

At best they can only guess and estimate what you are...That data goes through so many hands it's amazing that your name is correct! I'm not joking! Just because there's a file on a computer about you doesn't necessarily mean that it's the truth..
Great, another useless "field of study" by 50000BTU_barbecue · 2013-09-04 22:25 · Score: 4, Interesting

Could it be these "data miners" are just snake oil voodoo salesmen that are selling a comforting vision to companies? Has anyone ever done any double-blind studies to determine if companies that use this data actually benefit from it? Or is it just part of the modern cult of corporate "wisdom" that must never be questioned?
Or is one wrong data point in what is essentially demographic data irrelevant? Sort of like one athlete with an "obese" BMI doesn't invalidate the concept of BMI on the whole?

--
Mostly random stuff.
Only a glimpse by rgrbrny · 2013-09-04 23:22 · Score: 5, Informative

So, I read the article that the article links to--spare me the "you must be new here jokes"--and found this interesting bit:

Although the site shows visitors a few facts that some might consider sensitive, like race and ethnicity, it initially omits, at least in the version I saw, intimate references — like “gambling,” “senior needs,” “smoker in the household” and “adult with wealthy parent” — that Acxiom markets to corporate clients but that might discomfit consumers if they knew they were for sale.
So Axciom's transparency portal isn't so transparent at all...
1. Re:Only a glimpse by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 07:14 · Score: 0
  
  I worked at a corporate subscriber to Acxiom and this is definitely true. It might not be intentional, though - a lot of this information is correlated only with a couple data points, not the full name/address/DOB/SSN combo. If you look at the same data set with a wider query - say, name and DOB - you can see all kinds of interesting information.
AboutTheData.com doesn't work in Linux by arobatino · 2013-09-04 23:43 · Score: 1

But perhaps what I found most amusing was that it indicated my OS of choice was Windows. I haven't owned a Windows computer in a long time.
Well, he couldn't be a Linux user, since the site doesn't work in Linux (at least not with Fedora 19 and Firefox 23). You see a dot animation in the center of the screen, but the full page never loads. It works fine running the same browser in Windows XP.
1. Re:AboutTheData.com doesn't work in Linux by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:56 · Score: 0
  
  But perhaps what I found most amusing was that it indicated my OS of choice was Windows. I haven't owned a Windows computer in a long time.
  Well, he couldn't be a Linux user, since the site doesn't work in Linux (at least not with Fedora 19 and Firefox 23). You see a dot animation in the center of the screen, but the full page never loads. It works fine running the same browser in Windows XP.
  You never change your user agent to view a website?
2. Re:AboutTheData.com doesn't work in Linux by arobatino · 2013-09-05 00:04 · Score: 1
  
  I've virtually never had to do that. I did find that it's possible to access the site in Linux via https://aboutthedata.com/portal/home/ rather than the top page.
First, we don't RTFA by argStyopa · 2013-09-04 23:51 · Score: 2

At least the first 6 posts here said "OMG, they wanted all this information to show me my data!"...
Well, geniuses, considering that both Miller's article and the original NY Times article said "....Having filled out an identity verification form that asked for his name, birth date, address and the last four digits of his Social Security number..." personally, I wasn't terribly surprised that they asked for my name, birth date, address and the last four digits of my Social Security number.
Secondly, while I certainly agree that whatever you put into that form ends up going into their database as well, I'd like to pose a stupid question: how ELSE are they going to identify the person requesting the data? I mean, if all I had to put in was my name, then ANYONE could get the data they're about to show me, right? Personally, I strongly suspect that this is more to protect their assets from competitive gathering (after all, data is their business), but one could charitably interpret that this is a REASONABLE step to keep the information they have away from casually-prying eyes that are not the person indicated.
FWIW, it said my information was invalid, and I'd have to be manually identified (and this is all with absolutely correct entries). The second time I tried, it said there's already a user with that email. So, clearly a beta.
And a note to Ron: with a 5-minute scan of your "about Ron Miller" and a listing of articles, I can tell your probable politics - you're an Apple consumer, after all. FYI the fact that you *assert* you don't affiliate with a party also tells me volumes; it doesn't ipso facto mean that you don't in FACT align with a given party, either. And re your question, I guess I'd take the opposite view: while I know by correcting the information, I'm enhancing the value of their product, I'm going to get ads all the time anyway so I'd rather they be relevant.

--
-Styopa
1. Re:First, we don't RTFA by JBHarris · 2013-09-05 00:41 · Score: 1
  
  I agree completely. They already know these things. I can pull a 'soft' credit report on anyone with all that information on it. Given a budget of $10k, I could bulk pull credit reports for everyone within a specific geographic region that has all that info on it. Pretending you are special and they need you to put in that information to "complete" their records is asinine tin foil hattery. If you think they needed YOU to come along and attach an email address to the last 4 of your social...well...sorry, you're wrong.
  
  I signed in to see what information was gathered by their robots, and it was very interesting to read through it. Most of the information on me I could easily track back to where they might have gotten that information. I get direct mailers all the time about refinancing my home because bank notes on homes are public information (at least in FL, maybe everywhere). They only had me down for 1 kid, but they nailed his age. My guess that is because Toys-R-Us shares info and my son recently had a birthday. They had my salary way off. I actually corrected it for them. If that means I get fewer ads for Wal-Mart and more for Bass Pro Shops then so be it...I like Bass Pro Shops better anyway.
  
  One neat thing they know is that I am/was a smoker up until recently. Until this post, I hadn't mentioned that on the internet (Facebook, G+, etc...). The only thing I can think of is that they knew I was recently doing heavy research into the drug Chantix, and then I stopped researching it. Maybe search engines and research portals sell your information as well as use it for themselves.
  
  Neat stuff.
2. Re:First, we don't RTFA by Oligonicella · 2013-09-05 00:45 · Score: 1
  
  "Secondly, while I certainly agree that whatever you put into that form ends up going into their database as well, I'd like to pose a stupid question: how ELSE are they going to identify the person requesting the data?"
  
  OK Sparky, I'll tell you. Start by allowing the user to enter any given piece. Search. If multiple results, inform user they must provide further info. Repeat.
  
  In this manner, the user is in control of how much they feel comfortable giving just to see what info this particular entity "already" possesses?
3. Re:First, we don't RTFA by Oligonicella · 2013-09-05 00:51 · Score: 1
  
  "FWIW, it said my information was invalid, and I'd have to be manually identified (and this is all with absolutely correct entries). The second time I tried, it said there's already a user with that email. So, clearly a beta."
  
  So, your personal experience points to the distinct possibility that the entire company (and this article on SlashDot) is trolling for accurate information and not really to provide you with a glimpse at what entities "out there" already know about you.
  
  I'm not interested in improving their database.
4. Re:First, we don't RTFA by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 01:05 · Score: 0
  
  ANYONE with a checkbook can view this data. They sell it, it's kinda what they do.
5. Re:First, we don't RTFA by fahrbot-bot · 2013-09-05 05:04 · Score: 1
  
  Secondly, while I certainly agree that whatever you put into that form ends up going into their database as well, I'd like to pose a stupid question: how ELSE are they going to identify the person requesting the data?
  OK Sparky, I'll tell you. Start by allowing the user to enter any given piece. Search. If multiple results, inform user they must provide further info. Repeat. In this manner, the user is in control of how much they feel comfortable giving just to see what info this particular entity "already" possesses?
  Precluding the entry of some piece of rather private information, like SSN, that won't keep others from being able to see your data if they know enough "public" things about you. The information they are asking for is inline with that of the major credit bureaus to see your free annual credit report.
  
  --
  It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Opt Out of Interest-Based Advertising by Trax3001BBS · 2013-09-04 23:51 · Score: 2

http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/#completed give you the ablity to opt out of data collection but there's a catch,
you have to keep your cookies.
This site has changed since I last visited (years?), it used to have a large list of companies you could select to opt out from.
Now it just reads your cookies, 33 companies are listed that "honor" your opt-outs.
I use a rather large HOSTS file and delete my cookies when my browser closes, so this site does me little good.
my results: "These 0 member companies have enabled Online Behavioral Ads for this web browser."
Posted in case someone else can make use of it.
1. Re:Opt Out of Interest-Based Advertising by __aawavt7683 · 2013-09-05 00:45 · Score: 1
  
  For opt-out cookies as a Firefox add-on, allowing cookies that never go away, check here:
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/beef-taco-targeted-advertising/
they ony supply this to us citizens? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-04 23:55 · Score: 0

why is this only available for us citizens? i dont believe they have no data on the other 4 billion internet users? why do i need an American ssn and why do i have to be in one of ur united states. ? PS woudnt it be fun if the NSA had such a portal?
I tried it and... by guyniraxn · 2013-09-05 00:01 · Score: 1

They know almost nothing about me. The only section with any data was the first, characteristic data. And they got my education and politics wrong. Nothing on housing, cars, shopping, economic data, or household interests. I must be doing something right since I'm a heavy Facebook/Amazon/Google user.
1. Re:I tried it and... by Bigbutt · 2013-09-05 00:53 · Score: 1
  
  I was the same way. I checked it out and the information is fairly generic and in a few cases also pretty broad. Interests are fairly generic but absolutely nothing related to my main interests. Some are wrong, mainly due to the information not being accurate in the official databases (single again, house size, etc).
  But I have third party cookies turned off, I have ad block and noscript and use them both, and while I'm on facebook, I have almost nothing "liked" (so no targeted ads for music, bikes, etc).
  It just tells me my surfing habits are working as expected :)
  [John]
  
  --
  Shit better not happen!
US target only by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:22 · Score: 0

Requires U.S. street address...
I don't have one.
Can we have a #localnews tag for US-only articles please?
Not Much On Me, Not Totally Wrong by snookerdoodle · 2013-09-05 00:25 · Score: 1

I looked for and couldn't find anything about my religion (since the author says they had his wrong.)
If you think you're giving something away by giving them the initial information, you're sadly naive.
I do hope the site is truthful because the data they have on me was way wrong. Since it says we're hopelessly in hock up to our eyeballs and upside down on our mortgage (we're neither), I left it alone hoping that misinformation might get a few marketers to look elsewhere for someone with some spare money to throw their way on their stuff.
Mark
1. Re:Not Much On Me, Not Totally Wrong by snookerdoodle · 2013-09-05 00:29 · Score: 1
  
  Today's Dilbert is somewhat relevant.
2. Re:Not Much On Me, Not Totally Wrong by leonbev · 2013-09-05 01:09 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah... the information they had on me was profoundly wrong.
  They said that I was a single factory worker/tradesman making $25K to $50K a year, with an odd interest in cosmetics. Weird.
  The information that they had on my car and house was accurate, though. They must get that info from my credit report.
  I updated the info to (accurately) show that I was a married technical worker with a household income of $125K a year. That should make sure that I start getting better junk mail in the future :)
Despite the SSN... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:34 · Score: 0

Yeah, I don't much care if they have the extra bit of data. As other posters said, they already have that data. So I logged in. What I found:
What they had right: Age, gender, marital status, when I bought my house, what I paid for my house, what credit cards I use.
What they had wrong: Number of children, ethnicity, online purchasing habits, most of my hobbies (horseback riding? Horses are for making glue, not riding), vehicle data, income,

They have far more wrong than right. That makes me smile.
good! by gagol · 2013-09-05 00:41 · Score: 1

Apparently they dont give a dang about non-us netizrns.

--
Tomorrow is another day...
Not Very Accurate by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:45 · Score: 0

I looked at "my" data....it's not very accurate (I'm Asian! Who'd have guessed that??). And I use to work there (albeit 10 years ago).
It's genius! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:48 · Score: 0

1. Build a platform pretending to show information "ze web" has gathered about people.
2. Wait until enough people sign up and fix their data.
3. ???
4. Profit from the user data.
The site claims.... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 00:49 · Score: 0

The site claims that more accurate information about me would allow marketers to send ads my way that are more relevant to my interests. THAT is precisely what I don't want. I like all of the stupid viagra, weight loss spam because I have zero interest. The last thing I need is to waste time and money investigating things I might actually buy.
Aliases by Bigbutt · 2013-09-05 00:57 · Score: 1

Until they link my aliases up from the various forums (you don't think 'BigButt' is my real name, do you?), they won't know for sure who I am. In checking, I can see they have fairly broad information and are missing quite a few things like kids, education, religion. And politics is wrong. Nothing about my primary interests. Several generic interests that are just wild guesses it seems (gardening? not really).
Adblock, no script, and disabling third party cookies seems to be working.
[John]

--
Shit better not happen!
What about his TiVo? by Rob+the+Bold · 2013-09-05 01:22 · Score: 1

Does his TiVo also think he's gay?
Mine was always sure I wanted to watch "Diagnosis Murder" over and over.
Then again, that show had everything.

--
I am not a crackpot.
I have seen this fish before. by nitehawk214 · 2013-09-05 01:33 · Score: 1

Hi, would you like to know what information people have stored about you?
Just enter:
- Your Name
- Your Email Address
- The password to your email.
- Any Aliases
- Your Street Address
- Your Phone Number
- Your Mother's Maiden Name
- Your Pet's Name
- Your Social Security Number
We promise not to share this with anyone! Really!

--
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
very little by stenvar · 2013-09-05 01:34 · Score: 1

Apparently, they know almost nothing on me: I exist, I'm male, and I have made one purchase.
Windows is for kids by dbitter1 · 2013-09-05 01:48 · Score: 2

Did anybody who RTFA read this WITHOUT the elipsis?

I haven't owned a Windows computer in a long time ... we are not interested in children's items.

--
For us carnivores, "Sucking the marrow out of life" isn't a transcendentalist philosophy but a practical instruction.
Garbage in, garbage out by plopez · 2013-09-05 01:50 · Score: 4, Interesting

Once a data stream becomes polluted, it is almost impossible to clean up. False information continually circulates between sources and companies often reinfecting data that were scrubbed. All the users of "big data" and "analytics" do not seem to grasp that concept, blindly trusting what they find, a group of entities which includes security agencies.
This is why database engines which produce "eventual consistency", such as MongoDB, enrage me. They are almost guaranteeing a polluted data stream. Or maybe I just do not get it.

--
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
1. Re:Garbage in, garbage out by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 05:15 · Score: 0
  
  Once a data stream becomes polluted, it is almost impossible to clean up. False information continually circulates between sources and companies often reinfecting data that were scrubbed. All the users of "big data" and "analytics" do not seem to grasp that concept, blindly trusting what they find, a group of entities which includes security agencies.
  This is why database engines which produce "eventual consistency", such as MongoDB, enrage me. They are almost guaranteeing a polluted data stream. Or maybe I just do not get it.
  Gonna AC this one..
  to add to what you said, also NOTHING in, garbage out. I work for a major marketing company and we used to get a feed from a company I want name either (fear of repercussions, sorry) for use in one of our projects. In order to diagnose a problem with importing that data (from multiple DVDs) I started poking around. Mainly it looked like typical census data, household info, race, religion, number of kids... and a very peculiar column something along the lines of "assumed religion" (I can't remember the exact wording). If the Religion field was blank, there apparently is a formula to make a "best guess". Filtering on CA/AR/TX, I saw a large number of assumed catholics.. mostly with Hispanic names.. filter it down by a name like Cohen, and well you can guess what that assumed religion was I bet.
  It was very enlightening, and disturbing. To be fair it WAS a separate column that screamed "not accurate", but how that data is used is up to the user.
Couldn't find me by JThaddeus · 2013-09-05 01:50 · Score: 1

Huh? They can't find anything with data provided. I don't think these guys are gonna challenge Google or win many NSA contracts.

--
"Love is a familiar; Love is a devil: there is no evil angel but Love." --William Shakespeare ('Love's Labors Lost')
1. Re:Couldn't find me by RobSwider · 2013-09-05 06:48 · Score: 1
  
  Couldn't find you the FIRST time. Now that you've given them your data, you should show up on the next search, IF they are even showing real data, which I doubt. This is corporate phishing.
2. Re:Couldn't find me by wvmarle · 2013-09-05 14:14 · Score: 1
  
  Who says the NSA is doing a better job at this?
  This marketing organisation has a commercial interest in getting their data right. The NSA not (as long the NSA produces something, they'll get their money). Now for whom are the stakes higher?
I do not exist by plopez · 2013-09-05 01:53 · Score: 1

Woohoo! From now on I am posting as AC.

--
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
Self-taught + Ramsey + apartment + bus by tepples · 2013-09-05 02:21 · Score: 1

You have never used a credit card, applied for a loan, gone to a university, bought real estate, or purchased an automobile?

Here's a plausible edge case to your assumption: Consider a self-taught fan of Dave Ramsey who commutes between an apartment and his job on public transit. Fans of Dave Ramsey never borrow money. Self-taught people can skip university in some industries. People who rent need not buy real estate, and people who rely on a bus or bicycle need not buy a motor vehicle.
1. Re:Self-taught + Ramsey + apartment + bus by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 02:38 · Score: 1
  
  People who rent need not buy real estate
  Depends on where you live. Some places it is easy to rent by just convincing the landlord you look like a good, friendly person. But i've been in areas where the standard procedure for nearly everyone a reasonable distance away from certain areas wants to run a credit check on you before signing a lease.
Wow... by AJH16 · 2013-09-05 02:29 · Score: 1

They think I'm 59(29) and have a 6 year old kid of unknown gender(no kids), they think I own a dog(2 cats, no dog), think I watch basketball(watch no sports, don't even have cable TV) and think I research parenting and woodworking... (all of which is quite wrong.) I'm a bit surprised how inaccurate the data actually is seeing as I make no efforts what-so-ever to confuse marketing efforts.

--
AJ Henderson
1. Re:Wow... by wvmarle · 2013-09-05 14:16 · Score: 1
  
  At least now they got some more accurate data on you: what you filled in.
  Interesting to assume a 59yo might have a 6yo child. There are probably more 59yos that have a 6yo grand-child.
2. Re:Wow... by AJH16 · 2013-09-05 16:10 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, although honestly, I'm particularly not impressed by them when they can't get information that is publicly posted on my website (which is also my name) right. I've never particularly cared about anonymity on the Internet. They don't know anything about me that I care if everyone knows about me and I'd rather have ads that might be useful and go to pay for the services I'm using than have them waste my time. I'm all for making companies pay for stuff I use so that they can hope that I'll buy something from them, and maybe just maybe, occasionally, I actually will see something useful (though I don't know that I've ever actually bought something from an ad other than maybe food items that looked tasty.)
  
  --
  AJ Henderson
3. Re:Wow... by wvmarle · 2013-09-05 19:56 · Score: 1
  
  Don't mix up anonymity with privacy. This are two very different things. You don't have to be anonymous to have privacy.
4. Re: Wow... by AJH16 · 2013-09-06 01:34 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed. There is some information you simply won't find about me online. period. But for the most part, while I understand and appreciate the value of privacy, there isn't a whole lot I personally care about keeping private. Mostly some key financial details, my closest circle of contact info, and certain business details that could compromise financial things. Mostly, if it isn't terribly inconvenient (cellphone number) or a financial risk for people to know it, then I don't care if people know it.
  That said, there are plenty of situations where being able to keep private is a huge benefit to society even if they don't personally apply to me.
  
  --
  AJ Henderson
Haha, what a trap by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 02:40 · Score: 0

The main purpose is to get you to write valid information about you when "registering". This is what they want.
The rest on that site could be just randomized junk. Once you see that you're a "Windows user though you really use something else" and laugh at it, it doesn't matter, they already know that in this IP lives this name with this address.
Now they can improve their data mining by cross-referencing different databases since you helped them out.
Dumb!
They suck by neminem · 2013-09-05 03:01 · Score: 1

I saw this on The Consumerist (a great blog) yesterday. Was curious, as I honestly don't care how much corporations know about me, as long as they don't harass me.
Turns out, they know where I live (though they got how much it's worth wrong), and that's about it. WTF? I basically go around giving them free information constantly (filling out surveys, using grocery store cards, frequent flier numbers, etc.), but they don't know anything else?
Awww... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 03:05 · Score: 0

(you don't think 'BigButt' is my real name, do you?)
I'd hoped it was a description. You see, I like big butts and I cannot lie.
SSNs by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 03:20 · Score: 0

Most SSN have a very definite geographic component. 540 & 541 are NW numbers, 001 likely Boston at least New England.
Giving your last four and a strong hint as to the first three, how many tries does it take to guess the rest?
Warning: Honeypot Posting by "samzenpus" by sgt_doom · 2013-09-05 05:09 · Score: 2

This is sooo very obvious it is almost not worthy of comment. Obviously a honeypot posting.

Furthermore, the point is most definitely how inaccurate their information may be, as they use it for employment screening, etc., and this particular company has long had congtracts with DHS, and the intel community.
Seriously by Dunbal · 2013-09-05 05:12 · Score: 1

This would not be the first time marketing people spend money without having a single clue as to what the data they are buying is, let alone what it means. My wife, bless her, works at the top in market research at one of the bigger fortune 500's. Market research is not the same as marketing. It's the mathematical/statistical side, one of the questions it's answering is "how effective is the ad campaign for X", or "are we getting our money's worth". Quite often I hear about how she's had to stop many countries from spending money on surveys, trials, and other means of acquiring data simply because they had no idea what they were getting and it would have ended up being useless for what they were trying to do. Anyway enough of tooting my wife's horn. I respect her - I could never do such a job!

--
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Doesn't even work by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 06:30 · Score: 0

I live in D.C and have a street address that includes "1/2"
Their form isn't accepting either one of those fields.
My data is going to be wacky by Maxo-Texas · 2013-09-05 07:35 · Score: 1

I do a lot of internet discussions and search all kinds of random data to support arguments.
I also block a lot of the data gathering sites with noscript.

--
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
No data at all by zwede · 2013-09-05 07:40 · Score: 1

It allowed me to login, but all the categories said "no data available". That makes me happy. Looks like AdBlock + Ghostery is doing a great job at thwarting the data collectors. Wish it worked on the NSA.
4 digits is all you need by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 08:04 · Score: 0

All you need is the last 4 digits of an SSN, together with approximate birthdate and place of birth, to come up with a complete SSN.
The first few digits identifies the place of issuance and, since they're issued sequentially, the approximate date. You can reverse that if you know the place and date and have a database of SSNs to compare against. If you know a twin's SSN, odds are that the other twin's is + or - 1 from that.
If the person is an immigrant rather than native-born, you go by the date they immigrated and applied for a SSN.
On the other hand, since the US SSN has no check digits, there's no way to tell if the numbers have been transposed or substituted. Of course it's illegal to deliberately use a false SSN where it is required (tax related matters, etc), but anyone can make a mistake.
Good choice by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 08:43 · Score: 0

I'll be honest. I fell for it. But they have little info about me. And what they have is not very accurate. They have my political party right, but my martial status and race wrong. They don't know about my car, and they have basically no other information about me.
Pay stubs, rent up front, shorter term by tepples · 2013-09-05 15:58 · Score: 1

But i've been in areas where the standard procedure for nearly everyone a reasonable distance away from certain areas wants to run a credit check on you before signing a lease.
This article and this discussion and this article claim that standard procedure can be worked around. Showing pay stubs, offering to pay three to six months' rent up front in states that allow it, or seeking a shorter lease term will make the landlord more likely to feel like filling a vacancy.
1. Re:Pay stubs, rent up front, shorter term by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-05 16:53 · Score: 0
  
  As was already said, "some places it is easy to rent by just convincing the landlord you look like a good, friendly person." Just about anything that is legal, and many things that are not, can be gotten out of a landlord if you do enough to make a better deal for them. That doesn't mean it will necessarily be easy or practical though.
  Some places have high demand, and landlords don't want to put up with changing anything or making any special cases because they are too busy or lazy, and know they can get someone else who will do what they want. Some areas are dominated by rental companies that will not bend policy anywhere near as easy as a dealing with a one person operation.
  Depending where (and what point in the season) you look, without a credit check you could be making some big trade-offs, either needing a lot more money on hand, or needing to pay higher rent than you wanted to, or needing to commute a lot further, because you have an extra constraint. The economy probably helps things as landlords need to deal with this a lot more than before, although they might want a credit check anyways, even if they will take deals if the report comes back bad (might want to see how bad, or some places want all of the standard stuff out of the way before face-to-face time). To some degree, it will come down to luck. Depending on how many options you have, you could actually put a direct dollar amount on the decision to never allow anyone to do a credit check.
i find my ads swamped with by KingBenny · 2013-09-08 00:02 · Score: 1

ads for dating oversized women, single moms, trips to london and turkey and laptops ... that's 1 out of 5 that could possibly interest me so i always thought since it doesnt seem to make a difference wether i use a vpn or not someone was just trying to be funny, after all, with the current state of affairs i couldnt possibly afford a laptop

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Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?