Of course they ask you to "sign" this "petition" and requiring personal information like your home and email address. Does this smell like a scam to get your personal information? I mean really.. why would the senate need your email address? Lets hope that people think about the words "identity theft" before they enter their vital statistics.Americans deserve a Supreme Court justice like Sonia Sotomayor -- an eminently qualified jurist who has demonstrated an abiding commitment to our core constitutional values. Please use your important advise and consent role to do the right thing and swiftly confirm Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
What do you think about petition schemes like this one? Have you ever given this kind of information in support of a cause? Ever had your identity stolen?
Bob,
ReplyDeleteSome of these on-line petitions are legit. Not sure about this particular one. By getting an email address, they have an unique identifier so one person does sign the petition a bazillion times.
I think rather than identity theft, the biggest concern with some of these types of things is spam, which is why I have an account set up specifically for places that require an email address but that I think are likely to spam me.
I never thought about the identity theft risk you mentioned. I usually only provide my name and e-mail address when I'm commenting on a specific website (White House, Senator, Representative, News show website, or authorizing an activist website to send a letter or fax in my name to my senator or representative).
ReplyDeleteThis kind of thing scares me. its just too easy to get compromised. Sometimes even Facebook makes me uneasy.
ReplyDeleteSomething to think about, most certainly.
ReplyDeleteI guess the problem I have is finding the proper balance between suspicion and trust. I hate to believe that everyone is crooked, but don't want to leave myself vulnerable by trusting the wrong people and trusting too easily.
It's a tough call!
I get them from various organizations that I support and I do participate in some of those.
ReplyDelete