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

optery.com

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

#81

Post by bb88 »

beyondd wrote: post #75
bb88 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

In order to opt out of a data broker, you have to submit PII to them to tell them who you are, otherwise, they won't know who to opt out. The exception to this is if the data broker is using an anonymous identifier, like that stored in a browser cookie, in which case you would need to submit that anonymous identifier to them, or somehow give them access to it (e.g. via a browser request). The People Search Sites we s…

Right.

Then you sell your company.

Then the TOS about my PII changes because that TOS is a one way contract subject to the whims of whichever entity owns it at some particular point in time.

And then your company starts selling my PII, despite what you say in a non-legally binding comment on hacker news.

So no thank you.

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

#82

Post by ParanoidalMouse »

Looks like a scam. I’ve subscribed to see if Optery is able to at least scan those 150 sites they promise to remove listings from. The dashboard showed they found me on 168 sites. Some results contained links to data brokers. Tried to follow some of them - they returned either 404 or data broker’s page without my information.

On their site Optery says “Our dashboard provides dynamically generated custom deep links you can click through to view your profile at most of these sites.” I got suspicious and registered once again to check how bad things are. This time I searched for a fictitious name from a fictitious city: John Queizi9Joot9Eiyohkeigh4Cohtae2Ae from Konohagakure, CA. Optery “found” this person on 168 sites once again. Lol, same 168 results for me and for fake me.

Some screenshots: Scan results for non-existing name and city on data brokers sites: https://imgur.com/a/xFtTljS Non-existing profile on addresses.com Optery dashboard report links to https://imgur.com/a/KqTtlut

So, what we have here: Optery looks like a fake. They disparade working tools while having no working tool of their own. Looks very much like a PII collecting masking itself as a privacy service.

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

#83

Post by beyondd »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #45
gigel82 wrote: post #11

Be very careful with any tool like this; you'll need to prove who you are by verifying an email address and / or phone number to your real name, which in turn will most likely "confirm" your data with all the upstream brokers (if you pay for some extra service you're twice a sucker with them most likely getting paid by brokers for proving your identity and by you as well for using the "service"). Note: this could be…

Would be interesting to know why there is no EU option. One possibility is they do not have enough data to offer it; that's good news for EU residents. Another is they want to avoid the costs of GCPR compliance and the possibility of regulatory action in the EU that is de minimis in the US. Either way, the fact they have no EU option does not inspire confidence they are on the users' side. The US is incredibly friend…

The EU fall under the GDPR and is an “opt in” regime. The U.S. falls under a makeshift patchwork of privacy laws and guidelines, and is an “opt out” regime. In an “opt in” regime (e.g. EU), the onus is on companies to obtain a user’s consent before they can use your data (i.e. they need to get you to “opt in” before they can legally use your data). In an “opt out” regime (e.g. U.S.), the onus is on the consumer to “opt out”, and companies basically have a free-for-all on a user’s data, unless the user exercises their right to “opt out”. (What's crazy is in most U.S. states, consumers have no legal right to opt out, which in the year 2021 is insane. Hopefully a federal privacy law will get passed soon.)

Given this, there is not as strong of a need for an “opt out” tool such as Optery in the EU because the GDPR is already doing a lot of work for you. However, in the U.S. (i.e. an “opt out” regime), the need for an opt out tool such as Optery is much greater because U.S. residents don’t have a privacy law in place like the GDPR to protect them. They either need to submit the opt outs themselves, or use a service like Optery.

That is why there is no EU option.

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

#84

Post by beyondd »

mssundaram wrote: post #43
TheFreim wrote: post #24

> After many years working at data brokers So you worked for years at (immoral) data harvesters but now you're a changed man who pinky swears to not use people's data they submit to you in a bad way? Sorry, I don't trust this product yet.

I'd like to see beyondd (one of the co-founders on here) to address this

I responded to this question on this page under a different sub-thread

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

#85

Post by beyondd »

Exuma wrote: post #57

How does this compare to DeleteMe (which I already pay for)?

If you click through the original Show HN posted link at the very top of the page, there's a section on the Introducing Optery page titled "How Is Optery Different From Competitors?" with differentiators from DeleteMe, OneRep, PrivacyDuck, and PrivacyBot there.

If you already have a DeleteMe subscription (or any other competitor opt out / removals service), you can sign up for Optery for free, and use the Free Basic account results to keep them honest and check their work.

In our experience, we typically find 20 - 40 profiles DeleteMe has missed and left exposed. If you do this, please send us a message and let us know what you find.

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

#86

Post by beyondd »

neatze wrote: post #31

How and why are you better then onerep.com ?

If you click through the original Show HN posted link at the very top of the page, there's a section on the Introducing Optery page titled "How Is Optery Different From Competitors?" with differentiators from OneRep, DeleteMe, PrivacyDuck, and PrivacyBot there.

If you already have a OneRep subscription (or any other competitor opt out / removals service), you can sign up for Optery for free, and use the Free Basic account results to keep them honest and check their work.

In our experience, we typically find 20 - 40 profiles other services have missed and left exposed.

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

#90

Post by beyondd »

dgeiser13 wrote: post #15

I signed up for an account and all I see on the dashboard is... "Application error: a client-side exception has occurred (developer guidance)."

There are two steps in the signup process. Step 1 is for basic email and password. Step 2 is for the bare minimum information necessary to find your profiles at data brokers.

We found when people skipped step 2 and then logged in, they would get this error. We fixed the bug and have made step 2 required.

Here's more info: https://help.optery.com/en/article/why-does-optery-need-so-m...

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