I'd like to add a few things about online privacy. I'm an old fart. I was 32 when the Internet started. The ease with which people today give out information is shocking. Information that they won't give to the government, but they'll just hand right over to a Corporation simply for the promise of something "free" or a cool new toy. Pretty sad.
NOTHING is free. You're information is worth money and there are companies out there that harvest this data piece by piece then combine it into a profile, which they can then sell. Mostly to marketers or social/political engineering groups.
Too many public services still use birth dates for identification. Most especially medical. All you need to access someone's medical or pharmacy records is a name and birth date. In the days before computers this personal information was a lot harder to come by. So much of our public data is exposed because the systems haven't caught up with the technology.
Today, for marketing/social engineers, the holy grail is the mobile phone number. This is even better than the Social Security number because it's not regulated about who can use it. With a mobile number, they can tie all your other bits of information together into a unique profile. Whereas with just a name, you're not sure which John Smith it is. Be VERY wary of giving this number out to anyone!
So when a website, social app, or game asks for this information, ask yourself why do they need this? I learned a few things in the military about information sharing. We operated on a Need to Know basis. If the person/company doesn't have a valid need for the information, then don't give it to them.
Now if you believe that what you are getting in return is worth what you are giving up, then go for it. As long as it's a conscious decision and you know the pros and cons.
What irritates me is the recent use of social platforms that just take the information without asking. This is a dangerous precedent and if people don't say something, it will get worse. How would you like it if every new game/app you installed scanned your computer for information it wanted? There are already a couple of them out there.
There is no such thing as Free! That chat app or game launcher is getting something valuable from you, or the company couldn't afford to stay in business.
Rant over.
