As an avid user of web services it is often convenient to me when a site has my information pre-populated. I do, however, prefer that this be as the result of an opt-in, not because there is a relationship – sometimes several generations removed – between a site I normally use and another site I happen to stumble on or find through a link.

In fact, I tend to see what information they have to track where it came from – but that is because it’s part of my business to watch these things.

It’s no different than the many ways I style my name to track who is selling my name for direct mail blasts.

I think I’ve come down on the side of wanting disclosure from a site if they are affiliated with a network, sell user data, or even just share it – and that disclosure needs to be easily accessible, not buried in microtext at the bottom of a 7 screen long home page or in a hard to find privacy policy.

Cheers, Pat