MANILA, Philippines--Smart Communications denied it owned a recent website asking people to sign up and be part of a patriotic movement to start change in the country.

?I?ve read that email. The database does not belong to Smart. We don?t own the database, therefore we can?t sell it,? said Ramon Isberto, public affairs head of Smart Communications, in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net.

Isberto is referring to the AKO MISMO website, which features celebrities and other people, committing to help start change in the country.

But an email circulating Tuesday allegedly pointed to Smart as behind the campaign and the supposed collection of information from people who would sign up.

?If it?s not Smart, then who owns it? No one claims the website until now,? said Jaime Garchitorena, president of Edu Pro, after he learned that Smart has denied the ownership of the website.

In an e-mail message that Garchitorena has passed on to other people, he cautioned people about giving away personal information to the website.

?To all those who signed up with AKO MISMO! You are now part of SMART telecoms network for potential campaigns in 2010,? he wrote. The website was part of major campaign, which also includes a television advertisement, encouraging people to sign up.

In a telephone interview, Garchitorena claimed that at the end of the commercial, the video indicated that KBP, DDB Cares, and PLDT-SMART foundation supported the campaign.

?The email that I sent is a friendly warning to those who signed up. The website of AKO MISMO is like a buy before you try thing because you can?t enter the website without signing up first,? said Garchitorena.

According to the privacy policy of AKO MISMO, the information gathered would be used to:

? Contact you--either in response to a query or suggestion, or to mail newsletters, documents, publications, etc.
? ?Remember? your online profile and preferences;
? Help you quickly find information that is relevant to you based on your interests, and help us create site contents most relevant to you;
? Undertake statistical analysis.

Garchitorena said that the campaign might be a ?phishing exhibition? of a politician for the 2010 elections or a marketing company who want to get the details of prospective clients considering that the advertisement appeared during the Pacquiao-Hatton bout.

?Kung merong call to action at walang follow up activity, sayang naman. Magkakaroon ng volunteer burn out for the youth,? said Garchitorena who is himself connected with an organization encouraging more Filipino youth to vote.

In the privacy policy of AKO MISMO, it stated, ?AKO MISMO collects personal information, voluntarily submitted by visitors to the site. We also collect aggregate anonymous information to help us tailor the site to visitor interests and concerns.

?Your privacy on the Internet is of utmost importance to AKO MISMO and strives to protect the transmission of any information visitors submit. But no transmission of data is completely secure inherent to the nature of data flow in the world wide web, so submissions are at the visitors' risk.

?AKO MISMO shall not be liable under any circumstances for damages resulting from unauthorized use of information collected from visitors to the site.?

As of this writing, there have been 45,152 ?pledges? on the website.

Here are some of the pledges posted on the website?s Wall of Commitments:

?Ako mismo magtatapon ng basura sa tamang lalagyan nito.?

?Ako mismo magtatrabaho sa Pilipinas para makinabang ang kapwa Pilipino.?

?Ako mismo ay susunod sa batas trapiko, upang maging magandang halimbawa sa kapwa motorista.?

?Ako mismo ang magiging leader ng kabataan sa Pilipinas.?

Blog entries of those who have signed up have already been posted on social networking sites.

Based on what has been posted, some were happy to join the campaign because of its patriotism while others admitted that the dog tag, which comes with signing up, attracted them to sign-up.