There are many websites that say their service is free, or “free to join (or register)” (like Classmates.com), but many times this is just a way of misleading you to give personally identifiable information like your name, year of birth, last name at graduation – which discloses any maiden names or changed names, and e-mail address. The really good (what many or most people want) parts of these services are NOT FREE. But, you don’t know this until you register first. The home page may say something like “It’s Free!”, and that’s it. While there are privacy policies with many of these sites, most people don’t take the time to read them carefully. If they did, they would find that there are ways for these misleading sites to give your personal information to “third parties”, which increases your risk no matter what precautions are taken. They can also sell their company and not be responsible for what happens to your info after the sale. The Choice Point debacle can happen too.
