(Mis)Uses of Technology

(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick




New Jersey Lottery Asks For Quite A Bit Of Info

from the breeding-ground-for-ID-theft? dept

Security "experts" have suddenly gotten angry about the New Jersey Lottery website, which lets people buy a "VIP membership". The problem is that the website, for no clear reason, asks for way too much information, including the player's birthday and mother's maiden name. In combination, all the info they give out could be used by identity thieves. Of course, if you just go buy a lottery ticket in the store, you don't have to give out any such information. The NJ Lottery defends the practice saying they need the information to guarantee that the user is over 18, and the mother's maiden name works as a password "protector". Hmm... here's an idea, why not just do what every other site does and ask for an actual password hint instead?

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