Ebay Changes Privacy Policy 18
omarius writes: "Ebay is changing their privacy policy (the Ebay FAQ on the new policy is here). According to this article on CNET, this means they can share your auction history with anyone. I heard it this morning on NPR, and am considering cancelling my account."
eBay can (Score:5, Informative)
Omarius wrote that eBay "can share your auction history with anyone..." What's new about that? Auction bidding has long been public, though eBay has recently started hiding some data about bidders (it says to reduce spam, some say to impair competition). Sure, I might be embarassed that someone can do a search on eBay and see what items I bid on (a Monkees LP?), and what items I bought (a porn video?), but that's been a feature of the service for years.
The real change isn't about auction activity. The "real" issues, as I understand them, are these changes:
Re:eBay can (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't care much (except for the fact that I hate to see ANY privacy lost), they aren't selling my info, eBay was never my thing.
Re:eBay can (Score:1, Insightful)
And your comment about suspension over criticism is a major concern. I have given good feedback ratings over auctions that went well. But now the new policy makes it sound like you could lose your account just for giving justifiable negative feedback.
Re:eBay can (Score:1)
Junkbusters president/eBay (Score:2, Informative)
Also mentioned on the page but not related is the fact that J.C. Penney will start sharing customer information from their catalog buyer file unless they call 1-800-204-3334 or e-mail privacy@jcpenneyeservices.com to opt-out.
come on, I DARE YOU (Score:2)
hell, I double-dog dare you. cancel it. see if you can. $5 says you can't.
and that's where they got ya. not only has ebay won the online auction space, but they also now have a unified system with half.com
but even if you thought you could cancel it and walk away, you're wrong. you're addicted. so am I... which is why I won't even pretend.
so stop your bitching. instead, mess with em. buy stupid shit that you would never buy. Hell, the other day I saw a drunken korean chick for sale. She went for $10,000,000... but I don't really think she was worth it.
but sabotage the system. there's tons of cheap stuff that'll do it for next to nothing. atleast that way you don't have to remember a new username and password.
So what? (Score:3, Interesting)
Out of the 100+ auctions that I did in January, half a dozen people didn't pay, some of which have purposely obscured their contact information (no address, wrong phone number). Quite frankly, auctions shouldn't be nearly as anonymous as eBay makes possible.
There can be no real trust without real disclosure.
Re:So what? (Score:1)
Trust no one.
Re:So what? (Score:1)
EBay does not need to force disclosure to create trust. Instead, EBay could allow varying levels of disclosure (as they do now) and allow sellers to ban certain buyers or classes of buyers-- i.e. people with low feedback ratings, people who haven't provided confirmed (real world) contact information, people that won't automatically provide payment information if they win the bid. Sellers could then simply refuse to deal with whatever EBay members don't meet their criteria of trustworthiness.
This would allow users to decide how much effort or disclosure they are willing to invest in trustworthiness while still providing sellers with as much protection as they care to have.
Re:So what? (Score:2)
Now, of course, the question is... (Score:1)
-k.
Re:Now, of course, the question is... (Score:1)
I received an email from ebay telling me about the changes, and it had a link to my user preferences page on their site. That page had an email link to a "delete account" address, which I emailed.
They emailed me back a :
Then, followed that with a
So I replied, and then got another email saying "your account is in the process of being unregistered". Then, I got another one "Subject: IC FINAL NOTICE : User Account Closed per User Request Complete".
Done, at last. And I only wanted my account deleted so I didn't keep getting spam.
RTFF(AQ)... :) (Score:2)
A. If you do not wish to accept the revised Privacy Policy once it is effective (May 15, 2001), you may cancel your eBay registration by emailing decline@ebay.com. [...]
No idea whether or not this works, the info eBay has on file for me is already in the hands of every marketdroid on the planet so I'll be keeping my account alive.
Shaun
Over and Over and Over again.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Come up with a COMPLETE , ALTER Identity, mine has even its own credit rating(this happened quite by accident). Pay 500 bucks set up a corporation and accounts, set up a false name with access to those account (This IS legal, a role account) AND since all your transactions are online (banking and such you will never need an ID, BESIDES, YOU the officer has access in person if its needed) Get a corprate PO box, and youre set, never need to use your real name again, NOW this isnt to avoid law enforcment it wont work, they can still find you, BUT it will completley render useless almost all personal data collected on you for marketing purposes.
Second is completley screw with the profiling efforts, the left and right 5% are typically dismissed in marketing efforts, fall into that and they wont bother you.
Third, dont care, dont give a crap, and let em send you all the targeted marketing they want, know your information is a commodity to be sold and have fun with that, adding things like wrong phone numbers, and bizzare information whenever possible which ties into number 2.
OR the LAST reccomendation, you will go NUTS, Worry about all of this, make every effort to OPT out, calling all your creditors, and online subscription companies to find out what their OPT out policy is (they have to have one) and try to OPT OUT of all data sharing, only to find you forgot one place and your data is still EVERYWHERE !
Some cheaper suggestions (Score:3, Insightful)
1. Change your phone number, today, right now. Call the phone company and request an unlisted and unpublished number. (There's a difference between unlisted and unpublished, and unless you request both, you may very well get fucked.) BellSouth charges $3/month to maintain an unlisted/unpublished number, YMMV.
2. Rent either a P.O. Box or a PMB (private mailbox at an authorized mail agent, like Mailboxes Etc.). Use this address for everything you can get away with. Hint: the only things you can't get away with are a) the utility bill, b) the phone bill, and c) the cable bill, if applicable. Yes, even your bank and the IRS will send stuff to a private mailbox!
3. If you're really freaking paranoid, move, then repeat steps 1 and 2.
4. Get caller ID. Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, answer the telephone unless you know who's calling. Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, hook up an answering machine to your phone line. Period. People you know or care about should get your cell/pager number, not your home number. Once a single telemarketing firm verifies your home number as both active and "live" (i.e. something answers) you can kiss your privacy goodbye. It's better to let it ring than to answer it.
5. Never answer the door unless you're expecting company. Even manual marketers share information. If you really stick to this principle, you may not even have to participate in the census! The poor census volunteer for my area actually had to stake me out to catch me leaving my place in order to get me to reply to the basic census questions. No, I'm not kidding.
6. Give legitimate but bogus information to anyone who requires personal info. That is, the information should check out, but it shouldn't be something that can be used to annoy you or track you down. Someone wants your address? Give them your P.O. Box or PMB. Someone wants your phone number? Give them the local dating line, or the number of your previous employer. The key is to pick information that matches your locale, and perhaps even your identity, but can't be hooked to your physical location. Hint: when subscribing for things online, all that really needs to match is the ZIP code. Pick any valid address in your ZIP code and the purchase will typically be approved.
I've been at my current place for 2 1/2 years. I get maybe 1 or 2 unidentifiable calls per week (either wrong number or out of area type calls). Someone might knock on my door once a month. And as best as I can remember, I haven't gotten a single piece of postal mail addressed to me personally that wasn't a bill. That's right, not a single piece of postal spam since I moved here. Why? Because I'm careful. The only people who know my landline phone number and postal address are the same people I trust with my life. Not fucking many.
Guard your privacy as if it were your most valuable asset. It might take some effort on the front end, but once you get used to the routines (not answering the phone, not answering the door, etc) you'll save yourself from the satanic world of marketing.
Shaun