Dave Garland wrote:
>> It was a dark and stormy night when Choreboy
>> wrote:
>>> Did scammers get my aunt's date of birth? Would that be useful?
>> It would be useful if you were committing identity theft. Not to say
>> that is what is happening, but it is a bit odd.
>> It would be interesting to learn who that toll-free number lists to.
>> If you shared the number, perhaps someone more knowledgable than I
>> would look it up and learn more about its owner.
> The number was 800 852 5321.
> I often encounter websites that ask my date of birth without good
> reason. I alter it because I've heard it can be useful to criminals
> (even if the organization is reputable, such as a newspaper). That's
> why it concerns me that unidentified people asked my aunt's date of
> birth in peculiar circumstances.
1) In the US, Federal law requires them to determine age to determine whether collection information is legal, as well as "adult" content.
Admittedly a birthday isn't "required" but it's easier.
2) It's often seen as a harmless piece of information which can be used to partially verify a user down the road. Like all things it has been way over-used so it's less useful now. 3) Marketing: Knowing someone's age is very useful when determining marketing demographics.