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The thing I hate about all petition sites is that they ask for my personal information for... what purpose exactly? They don't even seem to try to verify anythi

The thing I hate about all petition sites is that they ask for my personal information for... what purpose exactly? They don't even seem to try to verify anything. They just look like scams to me, which is a shame because I really think they shouldn't be...

Freak_NL 10y ago
To prevent ballot stuffing I would assume. With a name and email address you might check the validity of a petition by randomly mailing some of the petition signers to validate that they did sign it themselves.
- nitrogen 10y ago
  AIUI petition drives are sometimes used to build mailing lists and drive further actions by signers.
informatimago 10y ago
Petitions cannot/should not be anonymous. The fact that your name and address is known to the entity receiving the petition shows that you really mean it. Also, for some entities it might be illegal to be moved by petitions signed by non-citizen. Unfortunately, those petitions systems only ask for your address, not for your citizenship. But we can assume citizenship from the address for the first order.
- wfunction 10y ago
  I know. Notice my complaint was about the lack of verification or other genuine need of the information. Not about the request for personal information itself. If they made legitimate use of it (and ONLY legitimate use), I would understand. However, the ones I have tried do not seem to verify anything, and instead use your contact info as a way to send you campaign materials and advertise to you in the future. That's the part that rubs me the wrong way - it feels like a scam designed to get your personal information. And in this age of identity theft, I really have little incentive to risk it.
jbmorgado 10y ago
> The thing I hate about all petition sites is that they ask for my personal information Yes, that's how any petition works. People really need to learn the basics of citizenship at school.
pbhjpbhj 10y ago
The thing I hate about them is that they don't also recorded dissenting views and register numbers of dissenters. A petition only works if each vote is tied to a real individual.

Freak_NL 10y ago

To prevent ballot stuffing I would assume. With a name and email address you might check the validity of a petition by randomly mailing some of the petition signers to validate that they did sign it themselves.

nitrogen 10y ago
AIUI petition drives are sometimes used to build mailing lists and drive further actions by signers.

informatimago 10y ago

Petitions cannot/should not be anonymous. The fact that your name and address is known to the entity receiving the petition shows that you really mean it. Also, for some entities it might be illegal to be moved by petitions signed by non-citizen. Unfortunately, those petitions systems only ask for your address, not for your citizenship. But we can assume citizenship from the address for the first order.

wfunction 10y ago
I know. Notice my complaint was about the lack of verification or other genuine need of the information. Not about the request for personal information itself. If they made legitimate use of it (and ONLY legitimate use), I would understand. However, the ones I have tried do not seem to verify anything, and instead use your contact info as a way to send you campaign materials and advertise to you in the future. That's the part that rubs me the wrong way - it feels like a scam designed to get your personal information. And in this age of identity theft, I really have little incentive to risk it.

jbmorgado 10y ago

> The thing I hate about all petition sites is that they ask for my personal information Yes, that's how any petition works. People really need to learn the basics of citizenship at school.

pbhjpbhj 10y ago

The thing I hate about them is that they don't also recorded dissenting views and register numbers of dissenters. A petition only works if each vote is tied to a real individual.