 | Internet Greeting Cards.Things that you wished weren t true about Internet Greeting Cards. |
One of the easiest traps for web-newbies to fall into is, unfortunately, one of the most highly-promoted internet scams to date. The Internet's take on the traditional greeting card delivers, much like it's paper-and-ink counterpart, much more than it may seem. While traditional greeting cards often allowed the sender to express himself in ways otherwise impossible, thereby delivering more than just words, the online greeting card adds something else entirely different. Both the sender and the receiver's email address is recorded for the purpose of sending the card, and this information goes directly to the spammers. Ever wonder how they can provide the service for free? Well, the spammers are willing to give them good money for your email address.
Most of the time, the fact that your address (and the address of your beloved receiver) is going to become a spam-magnet is not concealed. It is written right there in the Privacy Policy. Some of the more honest sites have this information in the first five or so paragraphs, but my personal favorite is the Privacy Policy of a well-know Internet Greeting Card supplier that states such in paragraphs 8-11 out of 23 paragraphs. And this Privacy Policy is presented to the user in a pop-up window one-eighth the size of the normal browser window. I quote from the Privacy Policy of the first website that Google provides for the term "internet greeting cards": "If you use our web site to send an online greeting or any other content, we collect your e-mail address and your recipient's e-mail address." Try it. You know Google's address.
From the same sites' Privacy policy we have the statement: "We will not use your recipient's e-mail address for any purpose other than to send the greeting." which is then followed by:"We may also use your e-mail address to contact you if you have chosen to receive communications from **** ******** or its Partners." This contradicting of previous statements is very common, and as the documents are legal in nature, this type of back-tracking is legal (if not entirely good writing practice).
As with all things computer-related that are 'free', you should always read the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service of any website that you deal with, especially ones that you give your email address or money to. Beware of terms such as 'Third Parties', 'Advertisers', 'Business Associates', and the like. These are all fancy synonyms for 'Spammers'.