“Why is it? People who would never click on a suspicious email link or fall for other phishing ploys think nothing of turning over intimate details about themselves and their family members to strangers who hand them official-looking forms, like bank clerks or doctors or almost anyone from the government. When you click on an email link that collects personal data, you take the risk that the info will be used without your knowledge for purposes of which you may not approve or which may harm you. When you hand the same info to banks or hospitals or a government agency (e.g. the post office), it is a given that they will share it automatically or at the request of virtually any other government agency: child protective services, the IRS, the police … If you do not wish any of the those agencies to know certain personal data — e.g. your income level, do you own a gun, your religion, etc. — then do not tell any agency.” (01/12/10)