Have They Stolen ~YOUR~ E-mail Address Yet?

--or-- what's a privacy policy really worth?

from JoeUser Forums

        I need to warn you about using a "refer a friend" service called refer-a-page.com. While their "privacy policy" (excuse me while I laugh till I hyperventilate) states...

"We do NOT collect email addresses of either the sender or the recipients of any referral message."

        ...you might want to have a look at this page. That's right -- 34+ Megs of harvested email addresses (including several belonging to me) and counting. And what's worse is, this page is findable through Google! That means it is linked to from somewhere.

        That's how I stumbled upon it. I did a Google search on "genenash" to see what would pop up and was horrified to discover my email addresses listed on this page for all to see and spammers to steal. I guess someone I know referred something to me through these people. Now I am spam bait. Hey , Spammers! Forget buying those "bulk email lists." Just go to refer-a-page.com and get a nice juicy one for free.

        I usually recommend people sign up for a free referral service such as this rather than installing a script on their own sites. That way in case someone abuses the system the third party supplier can take the heat and deal with the problem instead of you. This is one such company you definitely do not want to use, unless you want your visitors' information severely abused.

        If you see a link such as this "Refer This Page To A Friend" on a site you are visiting and it points to refer-a-page.com do not use it. You will be making your friends spam-bait. (But if you have some enemies....)

 

        Some doozies from their "privacy policy:"

 

Expert's Choice, Inc. has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy.
. . .

We do NOT collect email addresses of either the sender or the recipients of any referral message.

. . .

This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control.

 

        Oh boy. I should have posted this under humour.

internet
11,771 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top

jeez.  i have screaming cable and that page just kept loading..and loading..and loading.  whatta wonderful service theyre providing.  thats something that deserves to be taken down and lost.

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
How much of it did you sit through? I'm on dial up. It didn't take too long after seeing it was 34+ megs for me to kill it.

thats something that deserves to be taken down and lost.


I'm trying to get the word out. For what it's worth, I re-edited this puppy and tossed it into the 'Net's self-syndication underworld. I don't think anyone has picked it up, though.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Gene,

This is off topic, but if I were you I'd start preparing a rewrite of one of your most popular articles, on "what a jeopardy champion could teach the US Olympians".
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
if I were you I'd start preparing a rewrite of one of your most popular articles, on "what a jeopardy champion could teach the US Olympians".


That might be a good idea.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
When a site has such a ridiculous 'privacy policy' what measures are available fo us 'innocent' net users out there???

I love but hate the internet... It's like a lover that goes crazy on you

BAM!!!