Is It Safe To Sign Online Petitions ?

[tamaris]

For animal welfare abroad ?
Tony Zadel is always fighting for these poor animals and how badly they are treated, but you have to fill in your name etc.

[woofgang]

I am very careful where I put my details and many of these petitions won't achieve anything despite the number of e sigs they gather.

[LazyGun]

Safe enough, I guess. For the petition to have any force or weight, those receiving the petition have to have some assurances that the people responding are actual genuine individuals, rather than made up names.

I have signed many online petitions, and as far as I can tell my privacy has not been invaded as a consequence....

[factor-fiction]

If we simple had to mark a cross then i doubt the signed petition would be treated seriously when it is presented. Having said that, i can't imagine anyone ever checks the names are genuine- how could they

[Prudie]

I must say I signed an online petition from this site not long ago. My only gripe is I now get inundated with e-mails from other campaigns wanting me to sign their petitions.

[tamaris]

Prudie, that is the kind of thing that would put me off

[LazyGun]

You will get additional emails for other, perhaps tangentially related causes, but I scan em and then discard them if they are not something I am interested in. Takes about 2 seconds for each email ;)

[Prudie]

No it's not a big deal and of course you can delete them. The salient point is the e-mail I supplied has obviously been shared.

[jim360]

Lorks-a-mercy, it was a made-up address...

[ummmm]

I just use a throw away email address.

[Canary42]

I use an e-mail address reserved specifically for such applications, then my normal mailboxes don't get polluted.

[tamaris]

Thank you Ummm and canary I will do that

[jeffa]

Safe?, Probably.
Pointless? Definitely.

[jno]

I sometimes sign 38 Degrees petitions. The first one was about selling off forests; it worked. As they mostly involve lobbying MPs, I have no problems with giving my name and address, to guarantee I'm a concerned citizen who lives here. I only sign ones I feel strongly about.

They haven't passed my email on to anyone else.

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/

[woofgang]

mmm I think 38 degrees is one of the honourable exceptions.