Giving Out Personal Information

Please use caution when releasing personal information. Keep in mind the type of company you are dealing with and use common sense to determine relevant information to provide. If you are registering with a retail store you should expect to provide your correct name, address, phone number, a username, password, date of birth, and e-mail address. You might be asked for buying preferences but that is optional normally. If you are completing a purchase then you should expect to provide payment information. A store should not request your Social Security information. That's not necessary and signals a red flag if they do. The only time you really should be providing your Social Security information is for applications for credit, banking, jobs, retirement benefits, brokers, etc.