I had to fill in a form the other day to register for a course at my university. Most of the information was relevant, and there for an obvious purpose – name, address, place of work, etc.

No Harman done
But then we got to the Harriet boxes: race, gender, etc. I can see why these data would be useful and even harm(an)less for some purposes. But the fact is, that after 12 years of Labour rule, I just don’t trust anyone who wants to know all this; and I don’t know what they’ll do with the information.

Aside from leave it on a train, of course.

The Bartleby box
So I looked for what I call the Bartleby box – the one that lets you tick Rather Not Say.

This always struck me as a bit feeble. So you can imagine my delight that the legend had been replaced by the much more robust phrase, Information Refused.

MYOB
It’s not perfect – my preferred legend would be Mind Your Own Business.

But it’s a start.

So I ticked it.

Information refused.

Nuff said.