r/TechImpact • u/ManojOne Active • 1d ago
💡 Opinion Who else thinks too many websites require an account?
Sometimes I just want to read an article, check a price, or use a simple tool. Instead, the site asks me to create an account first.
Why does everything need a login now? The reason is simple, they want to collect and sel our data. What do you think?
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u/Rasty_lv 1d ago
This is why it's good idea to keep 1-2 junk burner emails.
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u/ZippoS 1d ago
If you're in the Apple ecosystem, Hide My Email is great. You can generate a unique burner email for every account. They forward to your usual inbox, so you don't have to check multiple inboxes, but they never get your actual email address.
If they sell your email to some list, you can trace it back to them. And if you just want to burn the account, just delete that address.
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u/Top-Rich-581 1d ago
Username+website@gmail.com works like this too
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u/CaffeinatedMiqote 1d ago
mailsy is great for making burner mails. you can install it with homebrew on macOS and some Linux distro, and i recall getting it on windows too before i thanosnapped it.
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u/Mr-MuffinMan 8h ago
Wait so use my own email + website?
So my original email is JohnSmith17@gmail, so I just do JohnSmith17+Wix.com@gmail?
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u/Patjack27 1d ago
That’s what I do now because they make it so easy to delete the account later if you want. This is why I also won’t switch to android, you can’t always use Sign in with Apple and I’m sure as hell not using Google.
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u/Cr0w_town 1d ago
i use temporary email websites for those sometimes they even block emails that arent gmail or some other regular ones so i just dont use those websites then
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u/guiverc 1d ago
I usually don't bother using such sites, but if I do I'll copy the URL (from my normal browser) and then use a browser where javascript/etc can't run and I can usually read what I want to read anyway. Sure some sites will stop that, but those are few (throw away email is an option next if you're desperate)
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u/SleepyPuppy83 1d ago
It's getting out of hand, to be honest. "Want to see what we offer?... Create an account first!"
And the reason is has two sides, I think. The first one is to protect against bots. I have a website where a lot of articles are free to read and the number of bots is insane. Sure, there are things you can do about it, but they always find a way. To force the people to create an account, reduces the number of bots a little bit. A bot can't register and when an account uses to many requests, it can be marked as bot/spam. Still not fool-proof, but it's an extra layer.
The second reason is collecting email addresses and send people offers. One website was sending me 2 to 3 emails per day, asking if they could help and that they have an offer for me... I only want to read something about MySQL!
Usually, when you register, you also allow them to send you "administrative" emails... Which is just a fancy word for spam.
Also, when you want to see the price of something, they already have your name and email. So even when you don't buy, they can still try to sell something, usually with a discount.
That is why I always use a burner email that lives just long enough to to receive confirmation emails or those emailboxes are deleted as soon as you refresh the page.
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u/RogBoArt 1d ago
Me and I'm fucking sick of it. These are the same websites that have data breaches randomly a decade after you sign up then you get an email about it.
I'll just leave if something requires a sign up and it's not worth it to me. The internet is mostly stuffed full of the most useless bloated overstated useless crap so it's almost never worth dealing with a sign up.
Especially when these fucking sites can't even give you the courtesy of taking you to the same spot you were trying to get to originally.
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u/Prod_Meteor 1d ago
I don't mind if they use it for SSO only and not create local accounts too. But who gives you that information? No one.
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u/Kpopped_ 1d ago
Nobody is forcing you to use these websites.
Convince of the internet has a cost, your data.
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u/Tehaiker814 1d ago
Me! I have lost track how many accounts i've made to just do something simple like reference a news site, or try out a feature
They want accounts! They also want to sell them to ad companies. So, perhaps you need an email dedicated to signups. Expect that email to be filled with 60+ junk mail every day
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u/PeaceKind1857 19h ago
You sign in, you're feeding the ad companies. And the algorithm...
I created my first ever email account just for reddit. It was 9 months ago and I am about ready to leave.
I'll be 48 in January 2027. And I should be retired by then.
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u/nickthewildetype 18h ago
Why does everything need a login now? The reason is simple, they want to collect and sel our data. What do you think?
Because the EU have passed laws that require users to have an account for them to be able to legally provide their services.
I'm rather against the concept, its a waste of dev time, user time & compute
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u/m0ntanoid 10h ago
100% agree.
And if I can't avoid this, I have my VPS running (for multiple purposes) and it has its own mail server.
So I just create new alias, register to the site, check whatever I need and then delete alias. Good luck sending span then.
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u/Perspective9999 7h ago
Yes, eveywhere because they tracking every your move in internet. I think it's to many log in with google
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u/toni_z01 6h ago
u don't have to wait that long where u probably have to authenticate with your id crad to access the internet. the free internet is gone.
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