MrConsumer prides himself on being privacy insensitive (if a store wants to track my shopping habits, for example, fine). However, more and more marketers want access to either your Facebook or Twitter account to see what’s posted and who your friends are. And MrConsumer finds that invasive.
The latest example is a promotion by Wheat Thins promising you a free box. The catch: there are limited numbers of boxes available daily, and you have to sign up for it via Twitter. And it is not a matter of simply tweeting something to the company, but rather you have to give them access to your account.
*MOUSE PRINT:

While the things they are seeking to do any member of Twitter might be able to do, there is still something uncomfortable about giving the company permission to see who you follow and what you are interested in.
In additional fine print, however, there is a disclosure that explains how to stop them from doing this after you sign up.
*MOUSE PRINT:
“You can revoke access to any application at any time from the Applications tab of your Settings page.”
So you can register to get a free box at FlavorProtection.com , but don’t have to give up your privacy in return.
Try this one on: I recently opened a bag of Dole salad and found an entry form for a contest in the bag. There was a 16 digit number and instructions to go to http://www.dolesalads.com/tasteofspain and “Enter the code below” to play. Before you can “enter the code” you are required to enter your full name, birthday, address, home phone number, cell phone number and more after you check the box that says you agree to the rules and conditions. As with most “contests” of this sort, the “terms and conditions” go on for a while, and as usual, the disclaimers are at the very end, the part you get to after your eyes glaze over. In the disclaimers you agree not to sue over silly little things like the endless stream of telemarketers calling you night and day after your personal information makes the rounds of every boiler-room scammer. Being gifted with a better than single digit IQ, as well as being a faithful Mouse-Print reader, I declined to participate.
I have literally opened up “dummy” facebook, twitter, email, etc… accounts and use a fake address and phone number for everything I do to register for any company for samples, freebies, etc…
For the stuff they do have to send to my house, I use my cat’s name. It is actually a cool thing to do, I know see how they circulate my name by the junk mail I get in my cat’s name.
FaceBook does similar too.
I’ve always wondered if you give these apps access to your account, how long before they “steal” your information. If it’s automated, it may be grabbing everything about your account before you have a chance to shut it off, in which case, you may as well just leave it on…just not sure and I don’t trust them.