Please Rob Me

#1

Post by danw » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:03 PM UTC

Please Rob Me
pleaserobme.com

Re: Please Rob Me

#2

Post by ajvargo » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:31 PM UTC

That's why I always tweet 'In closet, with gun' before I leave the house.

Re: Please Rob Me

#3

Post by KB » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:33 PM UTC

Having worked for a Defense Contractor and been forced to go through social engineering training in the past, the idea of gathering information like this is very real and happens everyday. Hopefully this makes people think twice before exposing certain personal information online for all to see.

Re: Please Rob Me

#4

Post by gchucky » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:34 PM UTC

I think this falls into the same jurisdiction as Wappr does (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1123173 if you missed that conversation), where you're aggregating info from people that may not want it used as such. I know that this is trying to prove a point, and yes, the Twitter account for pleaserobme sends tweets to people who get listed on the site, but it's still a little heavy handed.

Re: Please Rob Me

#5

Post by jasonlbaptiste » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:38 PM UTC

Feature Request: can you setup an affiliate program that gives me a cut of the "take" when a thuggishly inclined friend uses this to rob someone? thx!

-jlb

Re: Please Rob Me

#6

Post by mrcharles » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:43 PM UTC

This is pretty awesome. I've never twittered when I'm away from my place for a long period of time. I don't post about it to facebook. And I don't set email auto-responders. I guess my inner criminal automatically notified me that were I actually in the job of stealing, I would definitely use social media to pick likely targets.

In fact, generally no one knows I was away until I get back, short of close friends and family.

Re: Please Rob Me

#7

Post by maukdaddy » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:43 PM UTC

This is an absolutely brilliant use of data aggregation.

Re: Please Rob Me

#8

Post by eogas » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:46 PM UTC

I love how they are referred to as "opportunities".

Re: Please Rob Me

#9

Post by gruseom » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:48 PM UTC

gchucky wrote: post #4

I think this falls into the same jurisdiction as Wappr does ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1123173 if you missed that conversation), where you're aggregating info from people that may not want it used as such. I know that this is trying to prove a point, and yes, the Twitter account for pleaserobme sends tweets to people who get listed on the site, but it's still a little heavy handed.

Yes, and it's reminiscent of the Buzz launch as well. People seem to think that "publicly available" is a binary state, i.e. either X is public (1) or it's not (0). By that logic, if X is already public then aggregating/broadcasting it is fair game: you're not putting it through a state change, only going from 1 to 1. I think this is a mistake. There are clearly degrees here.

Re: Please Rob Me

#10

Post by yaacovtp » Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 3:49 PM UTC

This is the ultimate free source of leads for home security and alarm businesses.

Edit: They could drive around the neighborhood dropping off flyers saying, "While you were out at "place homeowner checked into" someone could have been robbing you blind.