Poll for Dev Shed Users

Hi All,

We are starting a poll and asking our users if they would be interested in joining a new site that we have in the works. It would feature thousands of FREE whitepapers, downloads, and trial offers of software for registered users. The purpose of the poll is to find out if you would sign up for this site if you had to answer questions requesting your full name, address, email and phone number as part of the registration process. This information would be used as statistical data for the vendors that are providing the whitepapers, downloads and trial offers.

Please let us know your opinion of our new proposed site.

Thanks,
Charles

So long as my information truly is used only for statistical data. Also, the type of site makes a difference. A site that offers my information for all the world (or even just fellow members) to see in a public profile would be out of the question. But one that only requires the information as part of registration would be more understandable. Even holding my personal information separate and private from my login/profile information would be better.

Nutshell: For a professional service, where my personal data was kept private and secure, sure. For a new public forum, no.

Depending on the site, I may submit my address and phone number along with the other standard data. But not likely if it's just some off-the-wall website wanting more data than it publicly needs.

Can I ask what statistical data you'd produce that required my phone number and address? Would my City, State not suffice - I have no qualms about saying in what city and state I live.

I posted no because I don't like giving out all that information on myself.. even for "statistical purposes". My name and number has been passed out through the net through sites that say they'll keep it for statistical purposes.. although I get calls from all over the US saying that they received my information from 3rd party companies, etc...

However, I may be inclined to join if they didn't require all of this information. If for statistical purposes, then all you really need is area code, city, state, zip, etc... Which I wouldn't mind giving out... Maybe even address because I do have a PO Box... but with phone numbers.. I wouldn't join for that alone.

Phone number is where I'd draw the line. So far as "statistical data" you don't need my full address either. A postal code would be able to tell you all you really need to know from either of those two fields.

If it wasn't just "statistical info" then ...
Unsolicited e-mail: I probably wouldn't notice amidst the V14Gr4 and intriguing offers from exiled Nigerian princes.
Unsolicited postal mail: instantly recycled into pizza boxes
Unsolicited phone calls: you get to hear me yell $($*#&*@&$@ at you

If the site was something special, and had some kinda "we wont spam you or sell your details" guarantee then yes.

@Medialint: I supposed this kinda information is just to check that each registration is unique. Not 1 household with 4 accounts?

In my house, I have 6 phone numbers... so there goes that theory..

ah yeah so the Phone numbers would be Unique, but the address wouldn't?

I have 3 mailing addresses as well.

I'm sitting at 3 street addresses right now to be completely honest

LOL.

OK, OK, like almost everything statistical, it's not bomb proof, but at at least makes the data that little more accurate

This being said, when asked for my phone number on web forms i tend to have the first number ever connected

00000 - 000000



hehe

Everybody in this thread has been speculative about the purpose of the address/phone information. I really don't think there's much to speculate about...
I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean they get a condensed summary. They'd get the raw information so they can produce their own statistical analyses.

Phone numbers and street address are not statistics, they're personal contact information. It's the phone I depend on. It's the address where I sleep.

I think that would by why the poll is in a Landslide: NO mode right now.

Just use n Monterey Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94131

Where n is an odd number less than 100

(right there's no houses on that side of the street since there's a highway on/off ramps instead ... I'm sure everyone can find a similar "valid" address near them that doesn't exist).

Hehe. I'll have to give that a shot, and retire my old 1234 Poo Blvd

Difficult to do with UK Addresses, as the Royal Mail PAF database (apparently) holds details on all postcodes in the UK with corresponsing numbers.

If the companies dont mind losing the 1% of the addresses the PAF doesn't currently hold (new builds etc), then there's no way to invent an address lol

That being said, most tend to have an "address not found, please type it in manually" thing somewhere