privacy and volunteering

[Eeep!]

On the rare chance you start getting calls from a nutter, you can take more serious steps. But really, that's something that has a vanishingly low probability of occuring, and if it does, the solution is fairly simple (get a new number). I choose not to plan my life around low-risk, low-probability threats.

A new number is a "simple" solution in your world? Because it would not be for at all! My number is on my resume, its attached to my credit cards and bank accounts, its the alternate contact for my Facebook account, my Dr's have it, friends and family across the country - including being the "out of area contact number" for my family in San Francisco in the event the big earthquake comes - etc. I trust those sources to have my number, but I'd rather it didn't get itself too easily just randomly out there; I have an ex-boyfriend from 20 years ago who is probably not a threat at all, but who after I broke up with him did some low level stalking of me, tried to commit suicide and last I heard became a junkie - yeah I'd rather he not be able to go into a public library and pull up my number. I'm sure my number is searchable if someone really tried pretty hard, but at the moment its not super easily accessible and it is in no way a simple thing for me to change it - it would be days worth of work trying to remember and then contact every source that I want to have my number to have them change it.

I didn't say that it wouldn't be a hassle, but it would be simple. And you have a factor which elevates your risk of getting phone calls from a nut, so you assess risk differently. If you were fleeing an abusive relationship, your risk would be still higher.

However (happily) most people don't have these additional risk factors, so to behave like somebody who does seems like overkill.

I mean, some people have diabetes and need to watch their sugar intake carefully. We should all probably be doing that anyway, right? I mean, too much sugar is bad for you.

But as somebody who does not have diabetes, I don't have to watch my sugar intake as carefully as a diabetic would. I could do that if I wanted to, but it would be a lot of effort to go to for something that carries (for me) a very small amount of risk.

First off all I don't understand how something that is admittedly a hassle is also simple. its not simple, its a hassle.

Second, how an you say most people don't have the same risk I have? Do you know the fate of every single person you went to high school with, or ever dated, or worked with, or lived near? You could just as easily have a now-junkie-but-then-reasonable person in your past as well. Just because I know of mine, doesn't mean that plenty of other people don't also have the same situation and would rather their phone number, that they pay for, that is linked to dozens upon dozens of legitimate and far reaching sources, not be let loose for just anyone to have randomly.

Not to mention the fact that the OP has clearly gone through a great deal of trouble using all the channels available to her to keep her information private.  Perhaps this is exactly because of one of these situations.  So she has already gone through all of the "hassle" to get to where she is.  (Not saying that is the case, but we don't know and it is a possibility.)

Also Teenweeny, I'm not sure where you get the idea that it is a simple thing to straighten out identity theft.  Perhaps it is in straightforward instances where someone just took your credit card number.  But true identify theft can be something that torments the victim for years and years and years.

[Gogi]

edgypeanuts, I don’t see the situations you’ve described above as being at all correlative to what the OP mentioned. This:

I have had people call my relatives and ask to talk to me cause their animal is sick and they don't trust their vet or want me to tell them if they actually have to take them to the emergency clinic or not.

And then this:
 

Some of these people are my clients…

What are you saying? That your relatives are giving out your phone number to people, some of whom are clients and some who are not but who want advice or reassurance? If so, tell your relatives to stop doing that. As Teenyweeny correctly pointed out:

Well, the thing is that unless you would be willing to go to the clinic, then you can't help the caller. And if the pet doesn't need that kind of immediate attention, then it's not an emergency and can wait until your normal business hours.

"I'm sure you'll understand that I only deal with emergencies when I'm off duty. If you call my office at x time, I'll be happy to help you then."

In any case, your profession has put you at greater risk of nuisance calls (snipped) …

Excellent point.

You shouln't have to take steps. Especially if you made a choice not to have your number out there and someone disregarded your privacy.

Again, it may have been disregarded, not with malice but in simple error.  There have been multiple variations of “she shouldn’t have to” and “why should someone be inconvenienced” posted here. Stuff happens. Sometimes people make mistakes and we are inconvenienced. My favorite gas station has a designated entrance and exit – if you leave by way of the entrance you find yourself in heavy 1-way traffic. Today a driver in an oversized SUV blocked the exit and 6 of us had to leave by way of the entrance. Was it annoying? Yup. Dangerous?  Perhaps. But nothing bad happened. Just one of Life’s little annoyances.

Regarding FERPA. I went to the gov site to see exactly how FERPA is applied. The full site link is at the end for the curious but this part seemed relevant to the discussion:

Another exception permits a school to non-consensually disclose personally identifiable information from a student's education records when such information has been appropriately designated as directory information. "Directory information" is defined as information contained in the education records of a student that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. Directory information could include information such as the student's name, address, e-mail address, telephone listing, photograph, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended, grade level or year (such as freshman or junior), and enrollment status (undergraduate or graduate; full-time or part-time).

A school may disclose directory information without consent if it has given public notice of the types of information it has designated as directory information, the eligible student's right to restrict the disclosure of such information, and the period of time within which an eligible student has to notify the school that he or she does not want any or all of those types of information designated as directory information. Also, FERPA does not require a school to notify eligible students individually of the types of information it has designated as directory information. Rather, the school may provide this notice by any means likely to inform eligible students of the types of information it has designated as directory information.
 

I would imagine that the OP’s info being given to fellow volunteers on a school project would fall within this description. And yes, the OP says that she did request her info not be made public. Maybe someone in the Registrar’s Office messed up. Maybe the OP misunderstood exactly what would be protected and to what degree.  Maybe, as ellebelle noted, the AFP coordinator did not have access to whatever paperwork designated the OP’s info as private. Who knows?



http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html

[edgypeanuts]

edgypeanuts, I don’t see the situations you’ve described above as being at all correlative to what the OP mentioned. I was pointing out that I volunteer with a group and if my info was given to all the other volunteers it would make things difficult for me and I would probably not volunteer with them again.  That seems to be very correlative to me.  I also was answering the post I quoted that stated: 

But I truly do not understand how a phone number released to fellow volunteers could be harmful. So this is a genuine question - please explain! And I don't mean, "If she doesn't want her number shared, then she has that right!" I know that. But why? What could happen? Are you afraid of sales calls from the other volunteers? A name and a phone number, as far as I can understand, are all that are shared. What is the *worst* that could happen, in your wildest imagination? I don't understand, truly and honestly.

What are you saying? That your relatives are giving out your phone number to people, some of whom are clients and some who are not but who want advice or reassurance? If so, tell your relatives to stop doing that. No.  Those quotes were in 2 different places.  People are NOT getting my number from my relatives, they are CALLING my relatives.  ie- Hey, Greg, can you please ask your wife if blah blah blah?  These are mostly not my clients but people who know my relatives and what I do.  I mentioned it only cause it does happen and I can only imagine how much worse it would be if everyone involved with an animal charity had my phone number. 

The quote about some of them being my clients refers to the group I volunteer with and why I would not want them to all have my number. 

As Teenyweeny correctly pointed out:

Well, the thing is that unless you would be willing to go to the clinic, then you can't help the caller. Unless they just want advice and to them it is a 2 second question but to me it is a 7 minute answer and an interruption.  And if the pet doesn't need that kind of immediate attention, then it's not an emergency and can wait until your normal business hours. Except that a spouse is going to kill the pet if this behavior doesn't stop and they cannot afford to come in during business hours.  I have even been told, "well I didn't want to bother you at work..."  As if they are doing me a favor. 

"I'm sure you'll understand that I only deal with emergencies when I'm off duty. If you call my office at x time, I'll be happy to help you then."unfortunately my point was that they DON'T understand that.  Many on this thread have questioned why so much privacy and what the big deal is with 100-200 other volunteers having your phone number.  I am pointing out why. 

In any case, your profession has put you at greater risk of nuisance calls (snipped) …

In my case yes, but I am willing to bet the same is true for lots of other people.  House is flooding from a leak somewhere and you remember that the other guy on your volunteer list is a plumber?  Maybe give him a quick call and see if he can help you out.  He can say no, but the whole point was that he has a business number for a reason.

You can give all sorts of reasons why it is not a big deal, but I have the right to be away from work without having to deal with clients, even if dealing with them means sending them away.   

[Mel the Redcap]

In any case, your profession has put you at greater risk of nuisance calls, so again, you have more reason than the aversge person to guard your number carefully. For people without much risk, as I say, it seems silly to me.

 

It's very nice that you're in a position where you can say that. You've never experienced any of the negative things that can happen when your contact details get into the wrong hands. I imagine you've never had to deal with completely changing your main contact methods in a hurry, or else you had an incredibly easy time of it since you're able to dismiss it as 'simple'. That's really, really nice... for you. I honestly hope you never have to learn differently.

The OP isn't in that position. She has a reason for wanting her number to be kept private and she's taken all the steps that should have kept it private - it's unlisted, she's jumped through the hoops to keep it secret at this organisation, and she signed up for this volunteering gig through the system that is SUPPOSED to have her number flagged as 'not to be released' - and for whatever reason, it hasn't worked. Either the system didn't flag it, in which case this needs to be reported so that the system can be fixed (and the list should be withdrawn, and there should be a sincere apology), or the system DID flag it but the coordinator ignored that, in which case oh boy we have a bigger problem here.

This is why the release of personal information HAS to be opt-in, if you ask me. I have no particular reason for having my phone number secret, but I still don't want it out there. When I was at uni, we had anonymised ways of contacting other students, so the guy who wanted to borrow my lecture notes could ask me - good - but if he was a little off kilter and thought I was stunningly beautiful and should be his girlfriend and sure I'd said no but he KNEW I'd change my mind if he just followed me around town for weeks and asked me out three times a day, he didn't have anything that could lead to him getting my home number or address. No, that is not a random example. I had absolutely no reason to expect that giving my phone number or home e-mail out to my classmates might be a bad idea, and they certainly had legitimate reasons to need to contact me, so by your reasoning it would have 'seemed silly' to keep my details secret. The university protected my personal information anyway, and oh boy was it ever a good thing they did!

Finally, Teenyweeny, I have to take issue with your repeated dismissal of other people's reasons for wanting to protect their personal contact details. In the end, it doesn't matter whether or not they have a reason that seems 'good enough' to warrant doing so - if they want to keep their phone number etcetera private, they should be able to and everyone else should respect their wishes... no matter how 'silly' it seems.

[Teenyweeny]

In any case, your profession has put you at greater risk of nuisance calls, so again, you have more reason than the aversge person to guard your number carefully. For people without much risk, as I say, it seems silly to me.

 

It's very nice that you're in a position where you can say that. You've never experienced any of the negative things that can happen when your contact details get into the wrong hands. I imagine you've never had to deal with completely changing your main contact methods in a hurry, or else you had an incredibly easy time of it since you're able to dismiss it as 'simple'. That's really, really nice... for you. I honestly hope you never have to learn differently.

The OP isn't in that position. She has a reason for wanting her number to be kept private and she's taken all the steps that should have kept it private - it's unlisted, she's jumped through the hoops to keep it secret at this organisation, and she signed up for this volunteering gig through the system that is SUPPOSED to have her number flagged as 'not to be released' - and for whatever reason, it hasn't worked. Either the system didn't flag it, in which case this needs to be reported so that the system can be fixed (and the list should be withdrawn, and there should be a sincere apology), or the system DID flag it but the coordinator ignored that, in which case oh boy we have a bigger problem here.

This is why the release of personal information HAS to be opt-in, if you ask me. I have no particular reason for having my phone number secret, but I still don't want it out there. When I was at uni, we had anonymised ways of contacting other students, so the guy who wanted to borrow my lecture notes could ask me - good - but if he was a little off kilter and thought I was stunningly beautiful and should be his girlfriend and sure I'd said no but he KNEW I'd change my mind if he just followed me around town for weeks and asked me out three times a day, he didn't have anything that could lead to him getting my home number or address. No, that is not a random example. I had absolutely no reason to expect that giving my phone number or home e-mail out to my classmates might be a bad idea, and they certainly had legitimate reasons to need to contact me, so by your reasoning it would have 'seemed silly' to keep my details secret. The university protected my personal information anyway, and oh boy was it ever a good thing they did!

I'm truly sorry that that happened to you, it sounds scary! But thankfully, it's an unlikely thing to happen to anybody. Just like I'm truly sorry for the victims of shark attacks, but I still think that buying a shark-proof swimsuit would be overkill.

Finally, Teenyweeny, I have to take issue with your repeated dismissal of other people's reasons for wanting to protect their personal contact details. In the end, it doesn't matter whether or not they have a reason that seems 'good enough' to warrant doing so - if they want to keep their phone number etcetera private, they should be able to and everyone else should respect their wishes... no matter how 'silly' it seems.

Of course, if somebody requests that their details should not be shared, then that request should be honoured. I absolutely was not advocating an attitude of, "Sue doesn't want me to give out her phone number, but I think she's silly so I'll do it anyway". That would be a very rude thing to do.

I am merely saying that I don't consider phone number sharing to be inherently risky (absent certain factors that would elevate risk for certain people). So if somebody didn't ask me not to share their details, and the numbers were being given out for professional/practical reasons (i.e. not to that guy at the bar who thinks my friend is hot and please, can he have her number?), I would see no reason not to share that information.

[camlan]

I'm truly sorry that that happened to you, it sounds scary! But thankfully, it's an unlikely thing to happen to anybody. Just like I'm truly sorry for the victims of shark attacks, but I still think that buying a shark-proof swimsuit would be overkill.

Of course, if somebody requests that their details should not be shared, then that request should be honoured. I absolutely was not advocating an attitude of, "Sue doesn't want me to give out her phone number, but I think she's silly so I'll do it anyway". That would be a very rude thing to do.

I am merely saying that I don't consider phone number sharing to be inherently risky (absent certain factors that would elevate risk for certain people). So if somebody didn't ask me not to share their details, and the numbers were being given out for professional/practical reasons (i.e. not to that guy at the bar who thinks my friend is hot and please, can he have her number?), I would see no reason not to share that information.

You might want to look up some statistics on stalking before you claim that it is unlikely to happen to anybody. I've been stalked, Mel the Redcap has been stalked, my BFF has been stalked. It might not be as rare a behavior as you think. And it's *scary*.

In general, you will never really know why someone is asking for a third party's address or phone number or email. Could be a great business contact, could be a ex out for revenge. People lie to get this sort of information and you can never really be sure about their true intentions.

My general rule is never to give out contact information. What I do instead is ask the person who wants the info for *their* phone number or email address. Then I get in touch with the third party and give them the contact information. That way, they get to decide if they want to get in touch or not.

[daen]

I'm truly sorry that that happened to you, it sounds scary! But thankfully, it's an unlikely thing to happen to anybody. Just like I'm truly sorry for the victims of shark attacks, but I still think that buying a shark-proof swimsuit would be overkill.

Of course, if somebody requests that their details should not be shared, then that request should be honoured. I absolutely was not advocating an attitude of, "Sue doesn't want me to give out her phone number, but I think she's silly so I'll do it anyway". That would be a very rude thing to do.

I am merely saying that I don't consider phone number sharing to be inherently risky (absent certain factors that would elevate risk for certain people). So if somebody didn't ask me not to share their details, and the numbers were being given out for professional/practical reasons (i.e. not to that guy at the bar who thinks my friend is hot and please, can he have her number?), I would see no reason not to share that information.

You might want to look up some statistics on stalking before you claim that it is unlikely to happen to anybody. I've been stalked, Mel the Redcap has been stalked, my BFF has been stalked. It might not be as rare a behavior as you think. And it's *scary*.

In general, you will never really know why someone is asking for a third party's address or phone number or email. Could be a great business contact, could be a ex out for revenge. People lie to get this sort of information and you can never really be sure about their true intentions.

My general rule is never to give out contact information. What I do instead is ask the person who wants the info for *their* phone number or email address. Then I get in touch with the third party and give them the contact information. That way, they get to decide if they want to get in touch or not.

Posting to agree with camlan - stalking is less rare than you might think. Lesser levels of harassment, unwanted attention, calls at awkward hours, and that sort of thing are even more prevalent.  (I've been what I call "lightly stalked" twice - I was much more annoyed than frightened, but I was repeatedly followed and my personal bubble invaded by men who were not welcome - and that included one of them watching me sleep.)

[Teenyweeny]

You might want to look up some statistics on stalking before you claim that it is unlikely to happen to anybody. I've been stalked, Mel the Redcap has been stalked, my BFF has been stalked. It might not be as rare a behavior as you think. And it's *scary*.

It's my understanding that most victims are stalked by people who you would happily share details with, such as ex-partners, ex-friends and the like. The only victim of stalking I know of IRL was stalked by an ex-boyfriend, not by somebody who got hold of her phone number through a volunteer contact form.

That's what I was trying to say: stalking itself may be common, but being stalked by somebody who you don't even know, or who you know absolutely marginally, is very rare.

There are some stats here (http://www.victimsofcrime.org/library/crime-information-and-statistics/stalking), which I did a little bit of number crunching on, and found that 0.02% of women and 0.01% of men will be stalked by a stranger in their lifetime. And the percentage of those people whose stalkers began stalking them because they got their personal information from a shared list of contact details will be even lower.

If you look at the per year stats, your risk (as a woman) of being stalked by a stranger is about a tenth of that (so 0.002%, which is on a par with the risk of being struck by lightning on an average year in the UK (not famed for its dramatic thunderstorms ).

Yes, it's super-scary for those it happens to, but I can see why it doesn't pop into people's heads as something that they need to guard against when considering whether or not to let volunteers have each other's numbers.

[LeveeWoman]

You might want to look up some statistics on stalking before you claim that it is unlikely to happen to anybody. I've been stalked, Mel the Redcap has been stalked, my BFF has been stalked. It might not be as rare a behavior as you think. And it's *scary*.

It's my understanding that most victims are stalked by people who you would happily share details with, such as ex-partners, ex-friends and the like. The only victim of stalking I know of IRL was stalked by an ex-boyfriend, not by somebody who got hold of her phone number through a volunteer contact form.

That's what I was trying to say: stalking itself may be common, but being stalked by somebody who you don't even know, or who you know absolutely marginally, is very rare.

There are some stats here (http://www.victimsofcrime.org/library/crime-information-and-statistics/stalking), which I did a little bit of number crunching on, and found that 0.02% of women and 0.01% of men will be stalked by a stranger in their lifetime. And the percentage of those people whose stalkers began stalking them because they got their personal information from a shared list of contact details will be even lower.

If you look at the per year stats, your risk (as a woman) of being stalked by a stranger is about a tenth of that (so 0.002%, which is on a par with the risk of being struck by lightning on an average year in the UK (not famed for its dramatic thunderstorms ).

Yes, it's super-scary for those it happens to, but I can see why it doesn't pop into people's heads as something that they need to guard against when considering whether or not to let volunteers have each other's numbers.

It's not the coordinator's place to give out a volunteer's telephone number to anyone. According to her post at No. 10, Snowdragon had taken several steps to keep her information private, yet the coordinator refused to follow her wishes and gave out her unlisted number to between 200 and 300 people.

[Teenyweeny]

It's not the coordinator's place to give out a volunteer's telephone number to anyone. According to her post at No. 10, Snowdragon had taken several steps to keep her information private, yet the coordinator refused to follow her wishes and gave out her unlisted number to between 200 and 300 people.

See, I just disagree with the bolded. I absolutely agree that people shouldn't share information when they have been asked not to. That's a given.

But, I also think that part of a coordinator's job is to make sure that volunteers can reach each other if they need to. You never know when somebody may need information, or to change duties, or whatever. Sure, everybody could ring the coordinator, who could then act as an intermediary, but a) the coordinator may not always be available when needed and b) s/he presumably has other duties to perform, and a minimum of three phone calls every time two individuals need to be in contact would take up a lot of time (the coordinator needs to receive the call from person A, then call person B, then call person A back).

A list of contacts is much easier, and more convenient, although of course if somebody asks to be excluded, they should be.

[MariaE]

Yes, it's super-scary for those it happens to, but I can see why it doesn't pop into people's heads as something that they need to guard against when considering whether or not to let volunteers have each other's numbers.

It's not the coordinator's place to give out a volunteer's telephone number to anyone. According to her post at No. 10, Snowdragon had taken several steps to keep her information private, yet the coordinator refused to follow her wishes and gave out her unlisted number to between 200 and 300 people.

Teenyweeny has stated several times that what happened in Snowdragon's situation was wrong. All she's saying that if somebody doesn't take those steps, she would not automatically assume that that person wanted his or her phone number kept private. It's moved from the specific to the general.

In that regard I agree with her - what happened to Snowdragon was wrong and definitely a big deal. But due to my personal experiences and my personal expectations, I would expect phone numbers (or emails) to be distributed among fellow volunteers, and wouldn't stop to ask first.

Even after this thread I still wouldn't, because as I mentioned earlier, in Denmark white papers have gone online and it's opt-out, not opt-in - anybody can look up my personal cell and my landline if they know my full name - so even if I didn't hand out contact information, any volunteer could just go online and get it anyway.

(Teenyweeny posted while I was writing this - the rest of my post still stands).

[LeveeWoman]

It's not the coordinator's place to give out a volunteer's telephone number to anyone. According to her post at No. 10, Snowdragon had taken several steps to keep her information private, yet the coordinator refused to follow her wishes and gave out her unlisted number to between 200 and 300 people.

See, I just disagree with the bolded. I absolutely agree that people shouldn't share information when they have been asked not to. That's a given.

But, I also think that part of a coordinator's job is to make sure that volunteers can reach each other if they need to. You never know when somebody may need information, or to change duties, or whatever. Sure, everybody could ring the coordinator, who could then act as an intermediary, but a) the coordinator may not always be available when needed and b) s/he presumably has other duties to perform, and a minimum of three phone calls every time two individuals need to be in contact would take up a lot of time (the coordinator needs to receive the call from person A, then call person B, then call person A back).

A list of contacts is much easier, and more convenient, although of course if somebody asks to be excluded, they should be.

Snowdragon DID ask for her unlisted telephone number not be given out. From her No. 10 post: I have also filled out all the forms at school that should have barred anyone affiliated with the school passing out my info to  anyone that information follows our registrations for classes and anything affiliated with the school ( according to the two offices on campus I spoke to. ), including volunteering for campus  events. We signed up through the same system that we would have used for classes.

[Teenyweeny]

It's not the coordinator's place to give out a volunteer's telephone number to anyone. According to her post at No. 10, Snowdragon had taken several steps to keep her information private, yet the coordinator refused to follow her wishes and gave out her unlisted number to between 200 and 300 people.

See, I just disagree with the bolded. I absolutely agree that people shouldn't share information when they have been asked not to. That's a given.

But, I also think that part of a coordinator's job is to make sure that volunteers can reach each other if they need to. You never know when somebody may need information, or to change duties, or whatever. Sure, everybody could ring the coordinator, who could then act as an intermediary, but a) the coordinator may not always be available when needed and b) s/he presumably has other duties to perform, and a minimum of three phone calls every time two individuals need to be in contact would take up a lot of time (the coordinator needs to receive the call from person A, then call person B, then call person A back).

A list of contacts is much easier, and more convenient, although of course if somebody asks to be excluded, they should be.

Snowdragon DID ask for her unlisted telephone number not be given out. From her No. 10 post: I have also filled out all the forms at school that should have barred anyone affiliated with the school passing out my info to  anyone that information follows our registrations for classes and anything affiliated with the school ( according to the two offices on campus I spoke to. ), including volunteering for campus  events. We signed up through the same system that we would have used for classes.

I know that. I was talking more generally, in response to the posters who think that contact sharing is never OK, by default.

[LeveeWoman]

It's not the coordinator's place to give out a volunteer's telephone number to anyone. According to her post at No. 10, Snowdragon had taken several steps to keep her information private, yet the coordinator refused to follow her wishes and gave out her unlisted number to between 200 and 300 people.

See, I just disagree with the bolded. I absolutely agree that people shouldn't share information when they have been asked not to. That's a given.

But, I also think that part of a coordinator's job is to make sure that volunteers can reach each other if they need to. You never know when somebody may need information, or to change duties, or whatever. Sure, everybody could ring the coordinator, who could then act as an intermediary, but a) the coordinator may not always be available when needed and b) s/he presumably has other duties to perform, and a minimum of three phone calls every time two individuals need to be in contact would take up a lot of time (the coordinator needs to receive the call from person A, then call person B, then call person A back).

A list of contacts is much easier, and more convenient, although of course if somebody asks to be excluded, they should be.

Snowdragon DID ask for her unlisted telephone number not be given out. From her No. 10 post: I have also filled out all the forms at school that should have barred anyone affiliated with the school passing out my info to  anyone that information follows our registrations for classes and anything affiliated with the school ( according to the two offices on campus I spoke to. ), including volunteering for campus  events. We signed up through the same system that we would have used for classes.

I know that. I was talking more generally, in response to the posters who think that contact sharing is never OK, by default.

It's not okay. If I want someone to have my information, I'll give it to her or him if she or he asks me. If that person asks someone else for it, the person being asked can contact me first. I don't want my information floating around out there. If I did, I wouldn't take the step, and pay the fee, to have an unlisted phone number.

[wildkitty]

I take great offense to the attitude that it's no big deal to share others contact info! I was the victim of stalking TWICE as a late teenager. Both were customers at the store where I worked. Small town and idiot boss that thought it was no big deal to reveal my last name to a couple of creeps who were at least twice my age. I am shocked that someone would continue to wave off the privacy concerns of others just because you haven't had the horrible experience of having your phone number in the wrong hands. Identity theft is simple to fix? Yeah, good luck with that one.