Helping Surfers Sidestep Site Registration

netbuzz writes, "PrefPass, a startup debuting at DEMO today, is looking to do for the onerous Web site registration process what Amazon has done for shopping: one click and you get the goods. If it catches on, sites requiring full registration may feel the heat." Looks like sites will have an incentive to implement PrefPass; it's not antagonistic to their interests in the way Bugmenot is.

Attempted before?

[daveschroeder]

Hasn't this been attempted before, with the likes of PassPort, and other numerous "universal" single-signon type things that have attempted to partner with commercial sites, and so on?

It says it's different from PassPort, and I agree, but I fail to see why this would have any more success.

Don't the sites want the demographic info?

[khasim]

I thought (correct me if I'm wrong) that the reason those sites want your age / sex / location was for demographics (for marketing and such).

If they just want to personalize your page, a cookie should be sufficient.

So, if this tool allows me to login to multiple sites, but with faked info, I don't see the sites going for it.

Submitted by NetBuzz?!?!

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you need a bigger red flag that this is a submission by the company itself or a PR company working for the company?

Edit! You're editors! Use your noodle!

Registration for what?

[TheWoozle]

I hate sites that require registration to access "free" content. Either publish your content to your "free" website, or charge me for it. I shouldn't have to tell you anything about myself to get access.

I know I'm jaded and cynical, but how much of the information that is entered into web site registration pages is genuine, anyway?

Bugmenot link?

[paulproteus]

For some reason, the article omitted a link to bugmenot [bugmenot.com]. There's a Firefox extension [roachfiend.com] that automates the process.

If you don't know what this is, it's a user-maintained list of usernames and passwords for sites that "bug" you for registration. Some sites block Bugmenot-listed usernames and passwords but most don't.

No password?

[CurbyKirby]

A Web-based service, the PrefPass registration itself requires only two pieces of information from a user: an e-mail address and the URL of a first Web site or feed in which the user is interested.

So if you're only identified by an already public identifier (that being your email address), what's to prevent people from messing around with other people's preferences? Cookies can be lost by the legitimiate user and spoofed by an attacker. IP-based filering doesn't work for different users behind a common firewall. I wonder how they can get by without some sort of password. I wish they had a technical FAQ to go along with their press release.

Re:Submitted by NetBuzz?!?!

[Verdict]

Note that the submitters email address is "@nww.com" which resolves to networkworld. How much does it cost to get your product listed on slashdot these days?

Re:PrefPass for PrefPass

[WoLpH]

They invented BugMeNot [bugmenot.com] for that ;)

Wrong Name for it!

[misterhypno]

PrefPass should be something like PassTheInfo, HandItOverToHackers or, maybe TARGET.

Because that's what it's going to become if the public and the corporations actually start using this thing.

One Big Target. Hackers start your engines...!

Lee Darrow, C.H.

Re:Registration for what?

[daeg]

It doesn't matter to the websites what info you give us. In fact, your fake information helps us more than your real information? Did you say you're 80 years old? Awesome. The stats are skewed similar to the way that election polls are. Certain groups are known to be under-represented so the information is skewed appropriately. While not entirely accurate, it helps.

Again, the websites that pull the info generally couldn't give a shit about your info. The advertisers do, though. Enough people provide real information to make it worth the hastle.

And content isn't free, per se. Freely available, yes, but the expectation is that you read our content and in exchange look at our advertising. No advertising revenue would mean you would only have access to jaded blogs written by 13-year-olds who haven't yet realized it's down the highway, not across the street.

Re:Attempted before?

[John Hasler]

[e-mail] is a member. His "fav" site is www.example.com

To Hell with What They Want

[PopeRatzo]

I could not care much less for what sites want when they try to collect my demographic information. More often then not, it is directly the opposite of my own desires and preferences. I go to a site to read an article, check a price, or a score, or the day's news. I will look at an advertisement under protest, but I will not willingly give them ammunition to bother me outside of my interaction with their site.

When a site asks for my personal information just so I can see their advertisements on my way to reading the morning's news, I have no problem at all about lying to them. I give a fake name, a fake zip code and a fake email.

If they require an email authorization, I use a spamcatcher account that is created with fake information.

Since when are we required to acquiesce to the wishes of the corporate world just for the privelege of purchasing and using their products? Since when do I have to provide correct personal information just to get the day's weather forecast?

It's the same thing when I go to a Best Buy or Radio Shack and they ask for my zip code or last name. Maybe down the line if they figure out that people are lying to them they'll stop asking.

I'm starting to believe that the next few decades will be marked by the traditional business/customer relationship being replaced by a much more combative, adversarial interaction between the individual and the corporation. It will be to nobody's benefit, but it seems that there are few ways to discourage real assholes. I'm sure those of us who still believe in the primacy of the individual and privacy in general will become inventive in coming up with more ways to thwart these "business" people who believe they have ownership rights over our lives. It's time to balance the scales a bit, I think.

OpenID

[Anonymous Coward]

What is the difference between this and OpenID http://openid.org [openid.org]?

Re:Registration for what?

[hankwang]

I hate sites that require registration to access "free" content.

What's even worse is if they let in the search engine spiders (Googlebot etc.) but require registration (and sometimes even payment) from human visitors. Whenever I encounter such a site, I report it to http://www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html [google.com] as a cloaked page. If enough people do this, maybe Google will do something about it.