Those of us in AU who used to frequent Tandy Electronics might recall that they always asked for a name and address — ostensibly for customer service, but in practice to send you catalogues. I had a CompSci teacher in year 12 who refused to provide it; he found it ridiculous to do be asked, especially when buying something like a single resistor.
Raymond Chen writes about this happening at the affiliated Radio Shack stores in the USA, and tells a funny story refusing to give his name.
I always refuse to provide my postcode when asked. The checkout chicks/chick??? (what’s the male version of chick, anyway?) always look at me like they don’t know what planet I’m from. Everyone else must be happy to hand out their personal information when asked.
Reminds me of all the studies when people provide financial data and passwords to “surveys”.
I don’t care about giving away my postcode. I object anything that’s only going to be used for unsolicited contact though. If they insist on wanting a phone number, and there’s no good reason they should have it, I’ve started giving an 03 7010 XXXX number (which is an allocated fictional phone number prefix).
What on earth makes a postcode ‘personal information’? I suppose you’d conceal the colour of your clothes if you could too.
I flatly refuse to give out my personal information other than a postcode, and even then I give them the general one for my area and not mine specifically (got a choice of two). Anyone asking for my address or phone number is asking for a shouting down.