I find this startup rather disturbing...
spokeo.com
I find this startup rather disturbing...
1–10 of 74 posts
Re: I find this startup rather disturbing...
#2I find it rather inevitable. Seems like a killer business model, and it's probably 500 lines of PHP (or whatever). Pretty much just coin-operated at this point, nice steady revenue stream, wish I had thought of it.
Re: I find this startup rather disturbing...
#3I find it rather inevitable. Seems like a killer business model, and it's probably 500 lines of PHP (or whatever). Pretty much just coin-operated at this point, nice steady revenue stream, wish I had thought of it.
They actually need to freemium the business model. X views for free before charging.
Re: I find this startup rather disturbing...
#4The argument against this startup is the same argument that was made when Facebook introduced the news feed; namely, that there is a difference in terms of the privacy of merely having publicly available data and aggregating that very data. The argument has to be, the very aggregation of data is an invasion of privacy; the added simplicity is an aide to stalking and illegal/immoral in itself.
This is sort of the 'see-through window' argument - If you live in a sky-scraper and you have sex in front of a window, and somebody takes a photo, is that invasion of privacy? The 'information' was technically already out there, and the photographer merely aggregated it (lets say he also found out who lived in the apartment through information publicly available) and posted it online.
Can aggregation in itself be an act of intrusion? I don't know, but its one hell of an argument to have.
Re: I find this startup rather disturbing...
#5The argument against this startup is the same argument that was made when Facebook introduced the news feed; namely, that there is a difference in terms of the privacy of merely having publicly available data and aggregating that very data. The argument has to be, the very aggregation of data is an invasion of privacy; the added simplicity is an aide to stalking and illegal/immoral in itself. This is sort of the 'see…
With Facebook news feed the data is limited by the fact that you have privacy settings and can limit the information you provide to a certain set of people which you choose.
Re: I find this startup rather disturbing...
#6The argument against this startup is the same argument that was made when Facebook introduced the news feed; namely, that there is a difference in terms of the privacy of merely having publicly available data and aggregating that very data. The argument has to be, the very aggregation of data is an invasion of privacy; the added simplicity is an aide to stalking and illegal/immoral in itself. This is sort of the 'see…
With Facebook news feed the data is limited by the fact that you have privacy settings and can limit the information you provide to a certain set of people which you choose.
Yes, precisely. This is how Facebook moved to address the initial news feed/mini feed issues.
The current start-up is likely to be under similar constraints; unless they're everybody's friend, only publicly accessible information should become available in the first place. And yet it still feels uncomfortable that the aggregation (basically a social-network google-ing of you) is so easy.
Re: I find this startup rather disturbing...
#7No more disturbing than Google really. Today's reality is that if you put information on the internet that can be tied to your name, email, address, phone number, etc, then that information can be found and used for or against you. Improvements in search will make finding this information easier and easier.
Re: I find this startup rather disturbing...
#8If you have a first-class degree from a top institution, that's called "so what?".
Spokeo fits in nicely I think, to answer the so what and offer a more rounded view on prospective candidates.
It reduces asymetry of information and reduces the risk of adverse selection by employers. In my opinion, having a good qualification is not enough of a signal to being a good employee. It therefore provides essential information that should ultimately benefit both parties.
That said, I don't think there's any substitute for a good face-to-face interpersonal interaction to determine a person's character or suitability for a role.
Re: I find this startup rather disturbing...
#9It tracks you by your email. Well, that was simple.
Get a professional vs personal email, if you don't have both already, and manage them both using Gmail (http://look.fo/how-to-manage-multiple-email-accounts-from-gm...).
Potentially, buy a .com/.me for yourself, and use firstname@lastname.me for your professional email.
Re: I find this startup rather disturbing...
#10Spokeo used to be a social network aggregator like Friendfeed or Socialthing. http://www.minger.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/spokeo-page...
Uh.