Privacy Implications of Sweepstakes, Freebies, and Like-Farming Sites

Sweepstakes and Freebies are great for Marketing Purposes;
They're Also Great for Mining Your Information

Be Smart When Entering Contests or Requesting Freebies

Our last few posts have focused on the privacy implications of Internet Quizzes.  We are currently evaluating SAFE quiz sites, and that series will resume when we've had a chance to complete our research. (The bad sites are MUCH more numerous than the legit ones.) But quiz sites are not the only data miners out there.  You must be just as cautious when participating in sweepstakes and contests, as well as when signing up for freebies of any kind.

Playing the "Sweeps"

I have been an avid "sweepser" since the they went online.  (Those of us who enter contests and sweepstakes as a hobby affectionately call it "Sweepsing."  People who do this are "Sweepsters.") Before there was a World Wide Web, I returned the occasional sweepstakes card, figuring I might get lucky for the cost of a stamp.  I foolishly dropped my business card in bowls at restaurants, promising a drawing for a gift card or exotic vacation.  Then I wondered where all that junk mail and those time share calls were coming from.

More on Internet Quiz Sites and the Associated Dangers

What Are You Giving Up When You Use One Popular Facebook Quiz Engine?  Maybe More Than You Think...

A Review of Nametests.com

This is the third part in a series on what you also give up when you take an Internet Quiz.  Part 1 focused on General Dangers.  Part Two reviewed the terms of use for one popular Internet Quiz site. Today, we're going to look at nametests.com.  I think about 75% of the quiz results that come across my own Facebook timeline come from nametests.com.  I think few folks visit the sire directly.  Most click-through friends' shared results to take the same quiz.  While there, they often fall into a click-hole, taking other quizzes suggested at the end of the one they just took. How many readers have taken a test at nametests?  How many of you have actually looked at their terms of services?

A Review of Quibblo, a Quiz Creating Tool, and A Quiz: How Facebook Savvy Are You?

This is the second in a series of articles discussing the privacy implications of Internet Quizzes.  The first, The Dangers of Internet Quizzes, is available at https://techlaurels.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-dangers-of-internet-quizzes.html

Quibblo: A Review

WWW.Quibblo.com

NOTE: Our quiz  (see the bottom of this page) is hosted over on Quibblo.  Quibblo is supposed to be a free source for creating quizzes that can easily be shared on Social Media.  If you are following the "journey" of this blog, I originally headed over to Quibblo to investigate its use as a resource.  Supposedly, you can embed the finished quizzes on your blogs or Social Media Pages, and several sources touted it as a good resource for bloggers. My research does not necessarily concur.

Quibblo is supposed to generate content that is easy to share and easy to embed, either on your own web site or on one of the major blogging platforms.  And quizzes can be good traffic generators for Social Media. Before you start, Quibblo promises your creation efforts will be rewarded with a widget in the sidebar to help you share, embed, or promote your content. But alas, the promised code-generating widget is absent in all three browsers!  I have contacted Quibblo to see how to get the embed code.  I will update this post when I hear back.  In the meanwhile,  the quiz is linked from the bottom of this post.  That, of course is NOT the ideal situation. Generated content should be as easy to embed as the giveaway widget featured on our giveaway post.  It is not.

This post was going to be a fun quiz about Facebook Savviness.  But it evolved as I was developing the quiz and writing the post.  The quiz is no longer the highlight of this article.  Rather, the post transformed into a warning about these quiz generators, and a review of Quibblo specifically.  I am kind of sorry my research lead me to consider Quibblo as a good option.

The Dangers of Internet Quizzes

Are Facebook Quizzes Really Harmless?

People LOVE taking Social Media Quizzes.  Sites like Buzzfeed have entire sections devoted to quizzes.  Facebook timelines are filled with results shared from various quiz-hosting sites.  Quizzes and tests can be great traffic drivers, and from a marketing standpoint, they can be very beneficial to your site.  But what about from a user standpoint?  Are there any dangers of taking these internet tests and sharing the results?  The answer, unfortunately, is neither yes nor no.  There can be great dangers in taking these internet quizzes, or they may be completely harmless.  If you scrutinize before you click, you can easily learn the difference.

What Are Some of the Dangers of Taking a Quiz?

The dangers fall into several categories.  Again, a quiz site may be harmless, and none of these dangers may apply.  Or it may be a complete and total scam site, out to cause you harm.  Most quiz sites fall somewhere between these two extremes. The trick, as with any internet activity, is to be savvy.  You need to arm yourself with the knowledge to evaluate the risks of each individual quiz. This list is by no means inclusive.  It only describes SOME of the dangers you may encounter.