RIG (Random Identity Generator) is a free replacement for a shareware program out there called 'fake'. It generates random, yet real-looking, personal data. It is useful if you need to feed a name to a Web site, BBS, or real person, and are too lazy to think of one yourself. Also, if the Web site/BBS/person you are giving the information to tries to cross-check the city, state, zip, or area code, it will check out.
$ rig
Adolph Cline
739 Anton Dr
Mentor, OH 44060
(216) xxx-xxxx
$
rig is neat, but really limited. It uses a fixed database of 1000 first and last names, and has AFAIK no hooks for generating IDs based on gender, ethnicity, or real-world population density patterns.
I've _long_ considered some sort of system to extend or expand on it, using U.S. Census data (~20k first names and many last, scored by ethnicity probability, plus other demographics).
This is even more comprehensive: http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/ - you get every detail you need, name, occupation, age, even credit card numbers and SSN.
I use their data to demo my medical software. I obviously can't show real patient names, so I import a whole bunch of realistic looking people from here instead.
I've used it in my software as well. Except that the names actually end up looking fake to me. Not sure if its cause I know they are fake or what. Doesn't matter to me either way.
Except it doesn't do addresses, especially postal codes, which is what I'd use it for. Making up names is not the problem, finding a matching postal code with street name and a house number (this database is published and many sites check it) is the issue.
There are lots of syntactically valid addresses at the bottom of Lake Washington in Seattle: useful if you want to avoid spamming random people with postal mail in case that contact information later gets sold on.
It does addresses, broken down by StreetAddress, City, State, PostalCode, and Country. But it sounds like what you want isn't fake identities, you want real ones.
I think a more valuable tool would be one that exports like 5000 identities to a csv file (or a data structure in whatever language you want json, clojure vector of maps, SQL, etc). Then I could import a bunnch of identites into my database and load test my system. I would need to specify column/key names for each field.
This can be easily done with "Faker", see: https://github.com/fzaninotto/Faker
It can create fake names, locations, account info, credit cards and so on...
That does erk me slightly. I appreciate the need for anonymity in some circumstances, and the desire for it in others whether it be needed or not, and I'm not keen on being tracked any more than the next person, but...
The "why should I have to give you X before you'll give me Y? - here have junk instead" thing is wrong IMO. You don't have to give them X, you have the option of going elsewhere or simply living without Y. Why should they give you Y without you providing X if they don't want to? Their house, their rules.
Voting with your feet is more likely to have some effect than providing fake information will.
The "why should I have to give you X before you'll give me Y? - here have junk instead" thing is wrong IMO.
That's an interesting opinion. However, this isn't just "their house." They chose to provide their site as part of the Web, and some of us believe that means they'll have to cope with the broader community's norms and traditions, too, including anonymity and pseudonymity.
I respect your reasoning, but the problem with the web is that people tend to flock to one or a few sites, creating monopolies or oligopolies. So it's not like you have a million sites to go "vote with your feet".
I had the same debate regarding open-ended questions on the stack exchange network a while back, and as a result moved to Quora. But no site is perfect.
I hereby donate this identity to the public domain! Anybody can use Karma Justice for any purpose they want, good or evil! But beware -- whatever you do will come back to you.
I used rot13 for my last name, trying normal words as input until you get a normal word as output. Sparks fun conversations when people find it a strange last name and you get to explain that there is a secret meaning.
Thanks for the feedback. I'll look at adding json, additional data (suggestions welcome), and changing the temporary email domain regularly so it's harder to block.
Did they register a large block of phone numbers? I reverse searched the number they gave me, and it was valid, but I called it and the number is "not reachable".
The e-mail addresses are at guerrilamail.com, provider of temporary addresses - and blocked from my current location. Are those addresses checked for availablility?
No one's going to donate if you just put you bitcoin wallet address. Donations need to take less than 20s and be mindless. Preferrably, just a matter of a few clicks. You might be better off with paypal; unless you're just aiming for trendy and unobtrusive, then bitcoin is fine, but I wouldn't have any expectations.
> you should change your username and email address frequently so sites don't build a history of your activities
isn't it pretty easy for the sites to collect history of your activities anyways since those emails/username are tied to the same account on said sites?
Working with the guy who runs guerrillamail.com, I just added a custom domain for those who are blocked from accessing guerrillamail for the temporary email address. I plan to rotate the email custom domain monthly.
This is exactly what we are trying to prevent. We believe there should be some semblance of identity in the internet. For the exact opposite of this post, check out bluecheck.me
Here's what I've learned in 10+ years of web marketing, and it's simple.
If someone is giving you fake info, it's because they don't want to be contacted. It's a cold lead you'll just spend money chasing that most likely will never convert.
Sometimes worse than a cold lead, but a toxic lead. When companies step over boundaries I've spent at least some effort to erect, not only will I not convert (if only out of spite, even if I think their product might otherwise have some value to me), I'll spend days, maybe weeks ranting about how shitty they are to everyone who will listen.
I wish more people took a sane approach like this. I can't tell you how many times I've had to turn down - politely at first - sales from seemingly reputable companies. I find it hard to believe they would approach anything else in the organisation with that level of clumsiness.
I'd rather buy from someone who is actually willing to listen to me.
Good job, but I suggest you add more flair. For example, you could certify that a person is appropriate for a work environment, for example checking their political views and browsing history. Also great for health insurance, making the process of risk assessment more transparent, with verifiable drug use history, eating and exercise habits and even DNA testing. This is a grow market.
The claim that Google requires intrusive personal dossiers for revenue generation is a myth. Google doesn't even use detailed personal dossiers in search ads, which we all know generates the vast majority of Google's revenue. It's really hard to do much better in search advertising than current query + location. Yes, we do a bit more than that, and will probably do more personalization going forward, but more personalization rarely yields more revenue. Instead, it usually improves our metrics associated with user satisfaction, although again the effects are probably far smaller than you would think.
I'm having some trouble understanding what your product does exactly. The blue check isn't an official verification is it? It's just one chosen by bluecheck, correct?
Ah, I think you are right. Wikipedia says, "The law in most jurisdictions also allows the owner of a registered trademark to prevent unauthorized use of the mark in relation to products or services which are identical ... The test is always whether a consumer of the goods or services will be confused as to the identity of the source or origin." I'd say it's reasonable that people aren't going to be confused by the difference between a social media product (or whatever you'd call this) and a biometric device. Then again, both products have a connection to personal identity.
Personally, I use this:
RIG (Random Identity Generator) is a free replacement for a shareware program out there called 'fake'. It generates random, yet real-looking, personal data. It is useful if you need to feed a name to a Web site, BBS, or real person, and are too lazy to think of one yourself. Also, if the Web site/BBS/person you are giving the information to tries to cross-check the city, state, zip, or area code, it will check out.