Recently, a post was going around Facebook about not sharing your information with advertisers. It flew hither and yon. Yet the same folks who were concerned about advertisers were continually taking all sorts of quizzes. I’m urging you to think twice before you do.
When I first joined Livejournal, similar quizzes were going around, and yes, I did some of them. As time went by, I began to realize these quizzes were perfect opportunties for phishing attacks for information, especially for information related to those “secret questions” you often get to recover your passwords. But they are even more nefarious than that! A recent article in PC World, which everyone should read. provides insight into where this quiz data goes. Quoting from the article:
The very nature of a typical online quiz requires you to divulge all sorts of details about yourself. Those tidbits of info are like nuggets of gold for advertisers craving a way to connect with you.
“These [types of sites] are data-mining havens where users willingly opt-in from the very beginning,” says Ryan Jacobson, an attorney and cochair of the Entertainment Media and Privacy Law Group at the law firm SmithAmundsen in Chicago. “I’m afraid that the average user fails to recognize or take the time to understand what privacy rights he or she is actually giving up by responding.”
So, before you do another quiz (or authorize another application on Facebook), think about what information you are really giving away… and who you might be giving it to.
