I stumbled across a popular link on one of the sharing sites. Within the last day or so, more than 100 people have linked to a web-service that verifies email address. Just type in the address, and it will tell you if it exists.

So I did…

Email question…and I was told that my primary email address has invalid syntax. Apparently, the person who programmed this wonderful utility neglected to include a provision for anyone with a ‘.name‘ account.

Oops.

Sadly, the way these bookmarked links tend to propagate, there will be many people out there using this tool to block certain people, or even blackball them from business for submitting “false” information. There’s got to be something screwy built into psychology that allows us to not take someone at their word about their address, yet we “trust” an essentially anonymous web-service to give us a correct answer. Never mind that the service in question might have been programmed by a fallible human, or even a mischievous one.

For that matter, I’m willing to bet we know very very little about the individuals and companies that create more popular web services and networking sites. We know they “promise” not to mess with our personal data. That is, if we bothered to even read the user-agreement. So much of the internet and the networks that make it useful are dependent upon an implicit level of trust. I’ve not thought hard enough about why some sites immediately get my buy-in, while others make me iffy. I’d hate to think it’s little more than color scheme or layout.

Who have you trusted today? I’m making a list, and it is scaring the hell out of me.

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