Below I have listed some of the information that may be asked and a few comments about providing it. In some cases you will notice that I may suggest you provide information that is not totally accurate – I’ll discuss the ethics of that later.
- Name: There is usually no problem in providing your name unless you are trying to stay anonymous for some reason. I have been known to use variations of my name if I wanted to see if the company was sharing their mailing list.
- Address: If you are requesting something that needs to be mailed, you obviously need to provide your address. I can’t say that I have had any appreciable increase in junk postal mail as a result of registering online. You should avoid using fake addresses unless you are very careful that it is not someone else’s real address. If you feel the company does not need your address just enter NA or – in the address fields.
- Email Address: I never provide my primary email address in online forms. I use a free disposable address for that. See my article on Avoiding Junk Email for further tips on this subject.
- Phone Number: This is one piece of information that I almost never provide. If the form won’t take NA or UL (for unlisted), I enter my area code followed by 555-1212. Do not enter anything but a 555 number as it would probably be someone else’s phone number.
- Birth Date: I do not provide my real birth date online. Some people may not even think twice about it, but it can be dangerous to do so. Your birth date and full name should not be given to anyone who does not absolutely need them. These two pieces of information are a good starting point for someone interested in identity theft. I provide a date that is within a couple years of my real birth date. I use a relative’s month and day so that I can be consistent on sites that use birth date for verification of age.
- Social Security Number: Never provide your social security number online or in email. Social security numbers are like gold to ID theft criminals. No matter how trusted the site and how secure it seems to be, no Internet site is immune from compromise by determined hackers.
- Credit Card Number: There is no reason for a company making a totally free offer to request your credit card number. If you are making a purchase, however, you can expect to provide a credit card number, but make sure it is a secure site and a reputable company. It is also a good idea to use a credit card that provides online fraud protection.
Now to the ethics of not being totally honest on Internet forms. My answer to that is to be honest when it makes a difference. If you are making a purchase with a credit card for example, you must provide your real name, phone number, and credit card number.
However, if you are registering for a free item or service, what real value is exact information to those requesting it? They don’t need your real birth date or your phone number. If nothing is being shipped to you, they don’t need your address. I do suggest providing information that is “close” to the truth. That way, you won’t skew any demographic data they might be collecting and analyzing.
Like many things online, deciding what information to provide to who comes down to a little common sense and little bit of Internet savvy. Provide the information you feel comfortable providing and avoid taking unnecessary risks your personal information.