I'm sick of registering on every website I visit

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

You know, it used to be only “secure” websites I visited wanted me to register or “create an account.” Nowadays, every Tom, Dick and Harry is asking their users to register. The other day I went to a site to browse timeshares for rental ads and they wouldn’t even let me into their site at all without registering. This is utter b.s.

Message boards and bank websites are a few examples where registering makes perfect sense. But online retailers? Why? Why should I have to create a UserName and password at TentsRUs in order for them to sell me a tent, especially given that I’ll only be looking to buy a tent once every 20 years? Not only does it irritate me, but it’s unnecessary. You’ll get all the information you’ll ever need in the “Bill To” field!

True Story: The other day my co-worker asked me to order a pair of earmuffs for his earbuds – you know the little stretchy things that go over the ear bud. After an exhaustive search, I finally found them at Staples. com. Okay, cool. So I put them in my cart and prepare to check out.

Wait a minute, I need to either sign in with my user name or register. Sigh. So I click on the “Register Now” button and fill in the pertinent information. Bzzt! I’m told that my e-mail address has already been used, meaning I probably ordered something from them 5 years ago and was forced to create an account then. Of course, I have no freaking idea what UserName/Password I gave myself 5 years ago.

So now, I have to go through the “Lost Password” process, which means that I have to wait for them to e-mail my new password, which also means that I have to wait for the Big Brother screener at my firm to send it on through. 20 minutes later, it’s in my inbox.

I go back and put in my password and one of my more popular UserNames. Bzzt. My username is incorrect. So now I have to answer a series of security questions “What was your first car?” before they can tell me what my freaking username is. And I was struck about how ridiculous it was that I had to go through 30 roadblocks in order for them to take my money! My German temper flared and I x’d out of the site and drove to 10 minutes Radio Shack.

Wisen up, website owners: I’m using your site because it’s more convenient than driving to the store. When you put up these ridiculous roadblocks for one simple order, then you end up losing ustomers. Forward thinking websites such as American Airlines and Eddie Bauer allow you to bypass the sign in procedure altogether and just place your damn order. You should take notes.

2

PunditLisa, you do know about www.bugmenot.com? It’s good but some of the logins don’t work.

I was getting myself all worked up about exactly this yesterday, I wanted to read the rest of an article that was linked in a blog post and I couldn’t because most of the logins didn’t work. So I started wondering “why is it such a big deal for them to know my grandmother’s maiden name before I can finish reading this article?”

I was even thinking of starting a GQ thread to ask what’s in it for sites like stores and newspapers. It seems likely that the losses from people who leave the site saying “Screw this, I can’t be bothered keeping track of this password” would surpass any marketing benefit they could receive.

3

Some online retailers store your credit card details on their server, presumably so you don’t have to fish out your card and type in a 16 digit number every time you want to make a purchase. If they’re going to do that, then I don’t want just anyone logging in pretending to be me. And if that means I have to enter a username and password, so be it.

4

I would much prefer to enter the credit card number every time and not have them store it on their server.

5

So would I. I’m explaining it, not trying to justify it.

6

I can understand logging in for security reasons, or if you need to prove you are over 18 for certain, uh, adult sites - but I agree it is totally stupid to have to log into a site to simply look at a product for sale…can you imagine if your local Target asked you to show your ID before going into the store?

Also annoying are the workplace logins that seem to require a new password every couple of weeks - as if Iraqi spies are hovering by the water cooler so they can sneak in and get a peak at the memo I wrote about pink widgets.

I start to run out of passwords: hello123 hello321 123hello 321 hello and well, at some point the passwords just get stupid…55555 44444 or Fckyou or shutup or stoopid…

7

As would I. In fact, I always uncheck the “Save my Information” question because I don’t want Amazon.com, et al to have my personal information stored.

Cowgirl, I didn’t know about bugmenot. I’ll have to try it.

8

I’m ok with logging in for people who have my money information.

Some time ago, however, I was just curious about the things one can find on the average grocery store shelf in the UK - do they have Bisquick or dark corn syrup? - but to even virtually browse the store shelves one must input an exact address. So I must apologize to the poor slob who lives at XXX Road, Southampton, Hampshire, SO18 1BE (now helpfully known as Mr. John Bull) for your masses of junk mail. Apologies.

I freely use bugmenot.com for random internet links, and those stupid publications that refuse bugmenot logins know me as a 98 year old Albanian male making more than $100,000 per annum. Idiots.

9

Just out of interest, how does creating a login and password for a website prove that you are over 18?

10

If you use Firefox, there’s a Bugmenot plugin. Just right click on the forms and it’s done.

11

Cnet recommended Robform (it’s a Cnet link) and I have really enjoyed it. You can create a master password, and it will generate a “random” password for you if you’d like, for any website. It’s a joy being able to go to a new site that I trust, clicking on one tab, and having all the info that I want to be filled in, filled in. It’s very customizable. I like knowing that my password to a public site can be something like “aiuhfhbv&^%$#39264__=~kbg.y=” that will never be guessed. All I have to do is enter my master password on my comp and I have full control.

12

It doesn’t, of course - but I believe it limits liability for the website if the viewer claimed to be 18…and I suppose it is somewhat of a protection against the really little kids accidentally clicking into a site (assuming they cannot read and fill out the disclaimer about age).

13

Because you have to check a box that says, “I certify that I am at least 18 years old etc.”, and nobody would ever lie about that.

14

They’re not requiring you to register so that they can save your credit card information as a convenience. Websites usually do this because your registration information is valuable demographic data that can be sold to advertisers. The credit card thing is secondary.

There are many people, myself included, who are put off by this intrusion into privacy.

Long ago, I’ve decided to ignore websites that require registration, unless it’s something I really like (as in, daily viewing and vibrant community like with the Dope). Even then, it needs to be an extra special website to pry my credit card information from my bony fingers. Casual shopping with Staples or Target doesn’t justify it for me. The New York Times doesn’t justify it for me.

Does this mean that my privacy is any safer? Probably not. The Straight Dope and Slashdot and Google and del.icio.us and virtually every other website I’ve registered on are owned by large advertising companies or do regular business with large advertising companies. Kind of pisses me off.

15

But according to the privacy statements of most online retailers, they either promise to never sell your name, etc. or they allow you to opt out by unchecking the “I give permission to receive other exciting offers from select partners.”

16

What I don’t get is what they plan to do with the information.
What do they care if I’m a certain age or sex or zipcode when all I want to do is read the cover of New York Times? And will lie on the application anyway just to discourage such nonsense. My birthdate is always 1901, and zip is 00000.