Blog de Kris Botha

Ok… so I was setting up a new layout for MySpace and through the miracle of surfing, also came to the conclusion that I should get a photobucket account for all the fun icons/pics I can copy or post online.

So.
I fill in all the required information *except* my cell phone number, because there was no reason listed next to the field as to why I should provide such private information (you know “For account security only” “We won’t bill your phone, honest”, blah blah blah). When I clicked “submit”, the registration would not take effect without my cell phone number. On a chance, I entered the number ( I know, stupid me, but they mentioned something about sending me a PIN number to activate my account). Within seconds I received a text message with my PIN number.

yay

Then, while I was still TYPING IN THE PIN, I get another text message congratulating me for signing up for uBid’s latest and greatest contests, and “To cancel, text back STOP2″!!!  I knew I smelled something fishy!  Ugh, so I sent a text back to stop it, but the sheer principle of the betrayal is tantamount to this posting! I can’t believe the site CAN GET AWAY with forcing you to enter your cell number in order to sign up for a FREE account. That is so ridiculous.

Obviously, not many people are upset about this, and I can understand the apathy of an increasingly tech-minded culture - it’s safe to assume the messages will no longer come to my phone.  But I am blown away by it.

We can’t even trust supposedly “trustworthy” sites now. Because my initial reaction to the text messages was… well, less than righteous, my husband has given me a full lecture on the dangers of putting personal information into registration forms online - no matter the site. Sadly, I think I deserved this reminder, and didn’t have a valid argumental leg to stand on.

[end of transmission]