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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > But seriously, why do I need an account?

But seriously, why do I need an account?
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Brien
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Southern California
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Jul 6, 2019, 01:57 PM
 
A bit of a rant but I have literally nowhere else to vent because all my real life friends are tech-illiterate or don’t care...

Why does *everything* require you to create an account (or worse, login with FB/Google) just to use the damn thing?

Bought an Xbox One - account required for activation. Literally cannot even play offline games without a Microsoft account. New router? Netgear account required to use the router. Adobe Reader - wants me to sign in with an adobe ID to read a freakin’ PDF! Bought tickets for a concert - I HAD to create an account for their proprietary ticketing system (no guest checkout)... on and on and on. For everything.

The official reasons are always something along the lines of it’s for security/registration/product updates/etc... but the pessimist in me sees this as nothing more than another attempt to mine and sell my data. I have enough passwords and accounts to remember.

(End rant)
( Last edited by Brien; Jul 6, 2019 at 04:12 PM. )
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
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Jul 6, 2019, 02:24 PM
 
Quora wanted me to make an account to prove I was old enough to read an answer to a question.

That question? Whether it’s legal to release a helium balloon.
     
turtle777
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
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Jul 6, 2019, 02:32 PM
 
Can't wait for authentication with Apple ID.

For many sites, this should solve the problem / concerns.

-t
     
subego
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Jul 6, 2019, 02:42 PM
 
Maybe it’s irrational, but I really, really dislike the idea of signing into places with an overlord account.
     
turtle777
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Location: planning a comeback !
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Jul 6, 2019, 02:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
Maybe it’s irrational, but I really, really dislike the idea of signing into places with an overlord account.
I don't think signing in with Apple ID is an overlord account.
I think it's more like an authentication token, that is linked to the Apple ID, but the details of the Apple ID is not visible to the actual app / website.

At any rate, so far, I have created dedicated email addresses for these account. I never use sign in with Google or Facebook.
But I would trust Apple to do it right.

-t
     
reader50
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Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
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Jul 6, 2019, 06:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by Brien View Post
Netgear account required to use the router. Adobe Reader - wants me to sign in with an adobe ID to read a freakin’ PDF!
I don't use google or FB for general logins either.

On the router, you may have used their setup genie. If you logged directly into the router (192.168.1.1) with admin pass from the sticker, you could probably skip the account setup. My firewall router eventually required an account for firmware updates (maybe they wanted to reduce their bandwidth) - even that ticked me off some. No account needed for regular use of the router.

Adobe Reader doesn't require an Adobe ID to read a PDF. At least, it's never required it for me.

The only reason we require an account here, is because it turns into spammer heaven without that. We did allow guest posting ~20 years ago. Spam emails existed at the time, but the trickier social posting spam hadn't been invented yet.
     
mindwaves
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Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Irvine, CA
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Jul 6, 2019, 10:56 PM
 
I absolutely hate it also. It is just for data collection. I go pay my bills online, have water, gas, electric, and trash. That is four companies and four separate logins with separate passwords. Paying bills? Some of them do it on their website and some of them will boot you to a third party service that will charge you a service fee to do payment for your utility bill. Yes, this requires a separate login also.

Many websites won’t let you do even basic things without a login. And sometimes even when you login and then logout. You are still logged in. One case is google gmail. You click logout and your password is gone, but your user ID is still there. It takes another three clicks to really logout.

I like how bill pay is done in another country I am in. You receive paper bills in the mail. You gather them and take them to the local 7-11 (there is one on every corner, and it is a place that you will be going to anyway) and present all of them at once to the cashier. He scans the barcode four times (utility bills are paid every two months) and presents you with a total for all four bills. You pay cash or credit and all is done. He staples the receipt to the bills and off you go. No need to create account. No tracking. No data collection.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 7, 2019, 04:16 PM
 
Nothing is free. How will they sell your data if they can’t track you?
     
andi*pandi
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Jul 8, 2019, 10:16 AM
 
is bugmenot.com still a thing?

For bills, you can enter all of them into your bank account website and pay them from there... I used to do that for most, but it is slightly faster to pay on the actual website.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
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Jul 9, 2019, 03:14 AM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
is bugmenot.com still a thing?
Every once in a while I'll try it, and it hasn't worked for me in many years.
     
   
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