It’s Personal!

Have you ever casually been perusing a Web site when, after pressing a link, you are prompted to become a member and provide your personal information? Do you ever wonder why these companies want to know where you live, what your phone number is, and what your social security number is? Maybe they just want to be able to send a card and gift certificate to your house on your birthday, but I am a bit more suspicious.

Out of a combination of sheer boredom and remote curiosity, I took an online IQ test the other day. I completed the entire test, often devoting minutes to single questions and scribbling down numbers and words on my scratch paper. Upon completion, the Web site asked me for typical personal information, which, as typical, I lied about. Well, let me tell you: I was quite angry when the pop-up informed me that my test results had been sent to my cell phone—phone number (310) 123-4567—in the form of a text message.

A recent article from NYTimes.com analyzed just this phenomenon, concluding that people were less likely to divulge personal information to official-looking Web sites when terms of confidentiality were raised. While that may sound slightly counterintuitive, the article provided the example of a group of students who were less likely to admit copying others homework to an official school Web site than they were to a Web site entitled, “How BAD are U??” Makes sense.

From a business perspective, I don’t think making your site look like a teenage girl’s personal Web page is the key to acquiring clients’ coveted personal information. On the contrary, businesses need have professional sites and assure confidentiality if they are to expect to receive anybody’s private info.

There is another crucial factor, though—a factor that the IQ testing website, along with many other companies, fail to recognize and obey.

Let’s provide an analogy: the IQ test was like a blind-date to me, and asking for my personal information—home address, phone number, e-mail address—was the equivalent of being brought over to meet my date’s parents on the first date. Completely unacceptable! Is there any better way to scare someone off? I was thinking, “I’ve known you for about 5 minutes, and you want me to tell you what?!?”

I understand that companies want all of the information they can get out of us—any little piece of information that gives them the slightest edge is significant. What companies need to understand, though, is that there is a time, a place and a way of going about that.

Give me time to get familiar with your site, to get to know and trust you a little bit better (sticking with the analogy, wine-and-dine me a bit before trying to get into my…uh…wallet).

Also, it is imperative that companies don’t ask for personal information before the customer feels that it is relevant. If I was ordering a product to be delivered, I would understand needing to provide my address. But when an IQ company wants my home address, you better believe I’m not going back for a second date.