I had to take my car into the auto mechanic earlier today. When I went into their office, I was given a form to fill out asking for my name, my phone number (information they already had), home address, and email address. Nothing on the form indicated why they required this information, and what they were going to do with it.

"What do you need this information for?" I asked him. He told me they would use my phone number to call me with an estimate, my mailing address to mail me updates and reminders, and my email address to email me service coupons and a newsletter. He was cordial enough about it, but when I gave him my name and phone number and left the other fields blank, he seemed perplexed. He stressed that I really shouldn't be concerned about filling out this form.

They were asking for information that they didn't need for any reason besides marketing purposes. He was a genuinely nice guy, and I could tell he was just following protocol. But when I broached the subject, he seemed surprised that I was being so shrewd about it.

I'm generally okay giving this information to people, but only after I recognize an incentive for me to do so. I wrote on the form "Buy me dinner first" and handed it back to him.

I think I might start doing this more often.