Out of curiousity, i visited the STOMP website to review their
forum pages.
Their registration process requires, among the usual things, your
mobile number.
First thing that struck me: why would you need a user's mobile
number?
Then as i read the terms and conditions (below), it became
clear:
You agree that the information provided in the registration form
may be used for the following purposes:
(a) To provide goods and services by SPH or its designated
representatives and/or business partners to you or parties
designated by you and matters ancillary thereto
(b) To verify and process payment when you purchase goods and
services from our sites
(c) For verification and record of your personal particulars
including comparing it with information from other sources and
using the information to communicate with you
(d) To conduct statistical analysis of the users of our sites
including the number of users, the frequency of use, profile of
users and using such analysis for our business plans, the
enhancement of our products and services, targeted advertisements
and conveying such information in broad terms (but not information
in relation to specific individuals) to third parties who have or
propose to have business dealings with us
(e) To send you information, promotions and updates including
marketing and advertising materials in relation to our goods and
services and those of third party organizations selected by
us
(f) To comply with any order of court or directive from authorities
investigating any alleged offence, misdeeds and/or abuse or for the
purposes of taking legal action against any users for breach of the
Conditions of Access and/or Terms of Service
(g) For the above purposes by third parties (who may be based
outside Singapore) who offer goods and services or sponsor contests
or other promotional programs on our site, whether in conjunction
with us or not, if you purchase such goods, use such services or
participate in such contests and promotional programs.
We send a regular email newsletter to our members to keep them
informed about new services and promotions. By agreeing to these
terms of service, you agree to receive this regular
newsletter.
In short, by signing on, verification of your handphone number is
required. This subsequently leads to the use of your contact
information to perform various surveys (not spelled out but the
implication from the term 'statistics' is obvious), offer your
information to 'approved' 3rd parties for soliciting purchases,
offers and other promotional programs....and all just for signing
up with STOMP to interact in their forum pages.
What kind of exposure are we talking about by agreeing to this?
dwang...
I clicked the 'cancel' option.... 
