Anonymous coward #673 wrote:
The other day I was under the hood with a safety pilot, but I was not
IFR current. I requested a "practice approach in VFR conditions" and
was cleared for an actual approach. I advised ATC that I just wanted a
practice approach and they said, "We have to put you in the system for
[some cockamamie reason that I can no longer recall -- spacing or
something like that].

"Putting you in the computer" doesn't make you IFR. It just lets them
do things like get you a squawk code and the like so it's easier to
track you. Normally they don't bother telling you that they are doing
this.