The iTunes music store will no longer let me buy music from them unless I fill out what they call "security questions". You know the kind: what was the first car you ever owned? What was the favorite of the cars you've owned? What was the least favorite? (These are all actual options and it lets you choose all three as your three security questions.) So anyone who knows enough about your personal history can impersonate you. For the record, I have owned a grand total of four cars, and I don't keep their brands secret from the world (for instance they've probably shown up in some of my photos).

These things always fall back to allowing you to reset your password and send you a temporary one by email, anyway. So fortunately it works to fill these things out with gibberish answers, knowing I won't remember them and nobody else will be able to guess them. I'm dreading the day when they put enough AI in the setup interface to require you to select actual makes of cars.




Comments:

itman:
2012-04-29T14:47:06Z

I also hate those things. But you can use answers for the "wrong" questions there. For instance, if I am asked to enter my "mother's maiden" name, I am entering some pass code that I remember, essentially an alternative pass, but it has nothing to do with the name.

ext_854198:
2012-05-01T19:20:02Z

Lifehacker wrote a post about this, essentially suggesting that you pad the "right" answer to the question with extra stuff that only you would know, but would still be easy to remember.

The essence of the post is:

The basic structure is: [Snarky Bad Attitude Phrase] + [Core Noun Phrase] + [Unique Word]
Although these are not my actual phrases, let's map them for example:
Snarky Bad Attitude Phrase = StupidQuestion
Unique Word = Booyah
Thus, when I'm asked the following question: What is your favorite sports team?
My answer would be: StupidQuestion SportsTeam Booyah