Syndicate: beware of yahoo mail

[honor <honor@va.com.au>]

hi all,

sorry, if this is slightly off-topic, but i thought it might be worth raising.

it seems yahoo's webmail policy seems to have abruptly changed.  i use 
yahoo mail quite often, to check POP mail when i'm travelling or working 
remotely.  i know many others on syndicate do as well. this morning i found 
i was locked out of my yahoo account.

this is the message i got:
___________________________

Hi honorharger,
You need your parent or guardian's permission to use your Yahoo! ID.
Please find mom or dad and show them this screen! You only need to do
this once.

Note for Parents and Legal Guardians
In order to create a Yahoo! ID for your child, we need to collect
certain personal information about him or her. We require your consent
for the collection, use, and disclosure of this information.

You can give this consent by setting up a Yahoo! Family Account. If
you're setting up a Family Account for the first time, we'll need for a
major credit card for verification. You will not be charged!

Family Accounts allows you to manage and monitor your child's account.
Your child will be able to use most Yahoo! services, including Chat,
Messenger, Email, Clubs, Message Boards, and Personal Web Pages.

Please read our Children's Privacy Policy to learn more about how we
treat information about your child, and our Online Safety Tips for
keeping your child safe.I am honorharger's parent, and have a Yahoo! ID.


Parent Yahoo! ID:
Parent Password: I don't have a Yahoo! ID yet.
Sign me up and Add honorharger as my child.

If you're an adult, you or someone in your family may have used a child's
birthdate when signing up for Yahoo!. You can regain access by verify
your age with a credit card.

___________________________

the only way i can get access to my account now, is if i enter my credit 
card details to 'verify my age'.  it seems yahoo wish to use this 
information to verify all of their users' identities.  they do not ask for 
alternative forms of identification, and i have not been able to discover a 
clear privacy policy on what they plan to do with the data once they have it.

i've sent off an extremely strongly worded letter, to them, and received an 
innocuous reply, confirming that all yahoo users have to 'verify their 
identity' using a credit card.
please spread the word amongst your colleagues.

i'll be hunting down some alternative reliable webmail services, which 
allow POP forwarding in the meantime.  send any suggestions you ahve for me 
to: honor@va.com.au

best wishes

honor harger

<london + amsterdam>

  _______________.play
<honor@va.com.au>           <http://www.radioqualia.net>

_______________.work
<honor.harger@tate.org.uk>  <http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/>

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