Overwhelmed with spam and junk mail? It's time to set up a disposable account.
A disposable account acts as an online alias you use when you don't want to give out your real contact info. This includes a fake name, email account, phone number, etc.
For example, you've probably come across countless websites claiming, "It's free! Just create an account." In exchange, they want your name and email address, or worse, your physical address, before they let you get to the free stuff. Everyone should know by now that if you use your personal email address for sites like these, you'll be drowning in spam in no time.
That's where a disposable account comes in. Set up a free email account (hotmail, yahoo, and gmail are popular options) with a fake name (check out this totally awesome fake name generator) and you're ready to go.
Some websites require a phone number, so check out inumbr.com. It generates a privacy number--a phone number complete with area code and extension that forwards calls to your main phone. That way you can still get the call, but no one has your actual phone number.
An alternate way to take care of the problem is to use bugmenot.com. They have a database of user contributed usernames and passwords (all volunteered, all with fake information) that anyone can use to access content at websites like newyorktimes.com or imdb.com. While this is useful, I've found it's easier to create one profile I can use on multiple sites, rather than getting info from BugMeNot every time I want to access something. It's nice to have one username, email address, and password for every non-important account.
Don't do this for your important accounts (like main email, online banking, online marketplaces like amazon.com, or any sites that have your financial or other important information). If your little sister or a thief gets a hold of your password, they'll have access to everything. Always create unique usernames and passwords for important online accounts.
- Jennie
Photo taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.
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