👤draker🕑12y🔼47🗨️54

(Replying to PARENT post)

I'm located in Germany and when asked I (and others I know) always say 25869. That's Germany's smallest zip code, a remote island with only 5 people living there. Stats should look funny for that zip :)

What's the smallest zip in the US?

👤eik3_de🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

Had some 'fun' with this in the UK a while back.

I needed a modem there and then so went to a high street electronics store. I got the empty box of the one I wanted down from the shelf, took it up front, paid and they went to get me a full box from the back. 10 minutes later and the assistant comes back. They have no modems.

This is mildly annoying, but fine, so I asked for my money back, which is when they started demanding my name and address. When I refused the assistant went to get the manager, who said they needed the details to process a refund. I said it wasn't a refund, you took my cash without giving me a product. I offered to call the police if this was giving them trouble and then it came down to "well the software won't open the till without an address".

So... it's some programmer's fault!

👤Nursie🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

It's kind of crazy that people expect to go unidentified after having used a debit or credit card with their name and a globally unique id on it. Anyone who cares at all about it should have used cash.
👤prodigal_erik🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

When I worked in retail we asked everyone for their Zip code regardless of their payment method. We were told that it was so that the store could determine where their customers were coming from. Half the time we would just type in the store's Zip Code so that we didn't have to bother the customer.

Gas stations on the other hand use Zip Codes as a way to prevent fraud. I've had my card rejected before by typing in the wrong Zip Code.

👤signed0🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

That's a shame. I've always given my ZIP code when asked, on the theory that the retailer was using that information to determine where to open new stores. If that's not the case, then they can have fun sending their snail-mail spam to my namesake in 90210.
👤CamperBob2🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

If you ever need to return something they are entitled to your ID which has your entire address anyway.

If they ever swipe your license on their mag scanner, it contains everything about you.

Your state DMV sells your info to corporations for pennies, in fact sometimes under law it's required to.

👤ck2🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

Doesn't everyone just fill in 90210?

or does give away my age...

👤monkeypizza🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

I've actually suspected this for years and my simple and polite response is, "No, thanks." or "I don't give it out."
👤techtalsky🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

Harvard's Data Privacy Lab runs a simple "identifiability" web site.

Submit your DOB, sex, and zip, and they'll tell you approximately how unique you are therein, based on Census data.

http://aboutmyinfo.net/

Giving stores a false but consistent zip doesn't help, but using a new one every time might. Or, if we could all agree on a false zip to use, that would skew the data away from Census-based estimates. However, with DOB and gender data, it might just ID us uniquely within the adopted HN zip code.

👤quesera🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

I'm unable to produce the research link, ATM, however I attended a presentation many years ago on the uniqueness value of this data. In the presentation the researchers demonstrated >80% confidence interval determining an exact individual from: (1) gender, (2) birth year, and (3) zip code. I recall the interval was for zip codes with the greatest population density, implying that more confidence was readily achievable in less populated zip codes.
👤darkspaten🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

This is a nice demonstration of the information explosion, which is the best reason for privacy concerns. You hand out your zip code, probably figuring that not much can be deducted from that and suddenly, they know your address, from there on they can get an idea about your income (think about rent), maybe about your general background and so on and so on. It's scary to think about it like that.
👤tetha🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

Doesn't this article completely miss the actual glaring privacy issue that there is a database of name-address-phones out there that is complete enough to only have a few duplicates that a simple zip takes care of?

Giving out your zip shouldn't be that big of a deal, the reason it is is because your name and address is listed on whitepages ;)

👤asperous🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

What if you just said something like 98123 give then the a fake one? What would be the harm in that ?
👤zw123456🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

This is one thing I like about shopping at Amazon and Newegg: I never have to worry about them using my zip code to find my address for marketing purposes.
👤Stratoscope🕑12y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

edited

Cashier: May I have your Zip Code? Me: F* no!

👤tmandarano🕑12y🔼0🗨️0