If you spend much time on the Internet you’ll notice that everybody wants your email address. The reasons they give for wanting it vary but they’ll generally come down to one of these:
- They use it to identify you — Email addresses are unique by definition and therefore make good user names.
- They want to keep you up to date — In other words they want to send you marketing messages.
- They allow others to contact you — This applies to sites that publish profiles like forums and social networking sites.
- They want to sell it — Bet you didn’t know your address was worth money.
