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Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

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Re: Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

#61

Post by bingojess »

123pie123 wrote: post #22
beyondd wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi! Co-creator of Optery here. We do not sell data. We are not a data broker. We do not have any financial relationship with any data broker. We are not affiliated with any data broker. We are privacy enthusiasts who believe consumers should be in full control of their data. You can learn more about our mission, background and values here: https://www.optery.com/about-us/ There are some bad actors out there unfortuna…

I've no idea if you're legit or not, but wouldn't a bad actor say the same thing? why should people trust you with their information?

Does a good actor actually have a way to prove they are legit?

This comment is a little pointless because almost anything that need your data needs you to trust them.

Re: Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

#62

Post by bb88 »

bingojess wrote: post #61
123pie123 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've no idea if you're legit or not, but wouldn't a bad actor say the same thing? why should people trust you with their information?

Does a good actor actually have a way to prove they are legit? This comment is a little pointless because almost anything that need your data needs you to trust them.

A good actor doesn't ask for PII in the first place.

Re: Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

#63

Post by DataBrokerLol »

dheera wrote: post #46
ipython wrote: post #44

Congratulations on launching! I signed up to take a look around. I’m excited that your free tier includes deep links to remove yourself. What I would like more than this is a way to feed fake data into the system. Inadvertently I have done so in a variety of ways, such that I regularly receive AARP advertising materials and my landline is on a myriad of robocall lists for senior citizen scams. I would love to see a w…

I'm currently using OneRep. Can someone please tell me if Optery is better and if OneRep will release all my information if I unsubscribe from them?

There is nothing besides OneRep or any agreements/contracts you have with OneRep that can answer that question for you.

Re: Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

#64

Post by DataBrokerLol »

dheera wrote: post #49
hash872 wrote: post #40

So I like removing myself from data brokers as a side hobby. In general they seem to be pretty quick to do so. However, OpenCorporates lists my name & home address, and absolutely refuses to remove it, as I'm self-employed and I have a corporate registration with my state. I eventually contacted the CEO directly and he said 'no, we won't remove you, go away'. They're based in the UK. Any general thoughts on them?

Best thing I can say is (a) move (b) do NOT register for USPS forwarding to your new address (USPS will help the data brokers) (c) change your legal address for service of process to a registered agent service, not your residential address (d) get a UPS mail box for your day-to-day corporate mail, and preferably most of your personal mail as well Completely 100% refuse to ever give out your residential address for an…

I would recommend against explicitly recommending voter fraud to people, regardless of the intent.

Re: Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

#65

Post by dheera »

DataBrokerLol wrote: post #64
dheera wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best thing I can say is (a) move (b) do NOT register for USPS forwarding to your new address (USPS will help the data brokers) (c) change your legal address for service of process to a registered agent service, not your residential address (d) get a UPS mail box for your day-to-day corporate mail, and preferably most of your personal mail as well Completely 100% refuse to ever give out your residential address for an…

I would recommend against explicitly recommending voter fraud to people, regardless of the intent.

(I didn't think that was illegal if you were in the same district, but edited it anyway)

Re: Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

#66

Post by ipython »

TheFreim wrote: post #56
ipython wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see this like a hacker who grows up and realizes that what they did before was wrong. People change. And the best people to address these issues head on- unfortunately- almost always started on the “wrong” side of the issue. Speaking from personal experience, you can reform yourself.

>Speaking from personal experience, you can reform yourself. I 100% agree that people can reform themselves, but I also can just as easily see it not happening. Currently the product is "trust me" with little other than that as far as I can see. If they go the distance to make sure everything is fully transparent then I would be more neutral. But when my personal data is on the line I try to be a bit more skeptical.

I am a skeptic by nature but the amount of data they’re asking for is no more than what was already publicly available about me online. So my own personal risk assessment was low. As an FYI I requested my info dump from Verizon and they track all sorts of random data points - my estimated household income, hobbies, etc.!

If they asked for ssn, mother’s maiden name, and my third grade teachers name upon signup, ok yeah I’d pass. But it was no more than a google of my name and city/state already returns from these data brokers.

I find the skepticism here a little amusing considering the amount of data we share without even thinking about it - stuff that’s way more identifying and sensitive than your name and current city/state.

Re: Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

#67

Post by DataBrokerLol »

dheera wrote: post #65
DataBrokerLol wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would recommend against explicitly recommending voter fraud to people, regardless of the intent.

(I didn't think that was illegal if you were in the same district, but edited it anyway)

It is, and it is (I thought?) common knowledge due to the high profile cases where this was abused. There's nothing morally wrong about doing it, but it is illegal and people do face consequences for it.

Re: Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

#68

Post by apayan »

Congrats on launching. This is a product category that I've been wanting to tackle for quite some time, and it looks like you've done a pretty good job. I also notice that many of the comments are raising the point about how to trust you and the catch-22 of having to provide PII to protect PII. I get it. I was going to launch a product like this as a second or third product of my company so there would be enough trust and good will built up to reduce everyone's apprehension. It's tough. :-/

I see in another comment you want to add support for opting out of zoominfo. Great idea. If I may humbly share some other suggestions:

* A family plan so I can monitor/remove my wife and children's data as well. Even a way to help my parents would be great.

* Opt out of junk snail mail.

* I don't know if this can be automated, but a way to get the credit card companies to stop selling our transaction data. I can't even count how many times Chase has sent us a letter telling us that they've updated their privacy policy, and if we want to opt out of their latest data selling scheme, we need to write a letter and mail it off to some mysterious address and pray that they actually do what they say they will do.

Re: Show HN: Optery – See the private info data brokers are posting about you online

#69

Post by dheera »

DataBrokerLol wrote: post #67
dheera wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(I didn't think that was illegal if you were in the same district, but edited it anyway)

It is, and it is (I thought?) common knowledge due to the high profile cases where this was abused. There's nothing morally wrong about doing it, but it is illegal and people do face consequences for it.

Hm. So how do homeless people register to vote? Can I register in the same way? Cursory Google search seems to indicate you only need a mailing address, and your residence can be described as a cross street or some such.

I mean, I don't care if the government knows where I live, but I do care if they leak it to people without my explicit consent.

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