Earlier quoted context omitted.
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I can't find any website for it. Are you sure it's not just some posting category on Bookface, YC's internal social network?
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Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
71–80 of 278 posts
Re: Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
#72Doesn't YC have some code of conduct or legal/ethical guidelines? I would assume a legal and compliance department would have some major headache if documented cases of misconduct jeopardize later due diligence. I would not fund or aquire a company on the radar of national regulatory bodies for something as stupid as this.
Imagine thinking in 2026 that an American tech company has ethics.
Re: Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
#73Re: Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
#74Martin from GitHub here. This type of behaviour is explicitly against the GitHub terms of service, when we catch the accounts doing this we can (and do) take action against those accounts including banning the accounts. It's a game of whack-a-mole for sure, and it's not just start-ups that take part in this sketchy behaviour to be honest. I've been plenty of examples in my time across the board. The fundamental natur…
I didn't realize this was against the Github TOS - I just thought it was par for the course for recruiters nowadays. This is good to know!
How do I report that person, though? Your support page about reporting abuse assumes I know the person's Github account: https://docs.github.com/en/communities/maintaining-your-safe...
Re: Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
#75Martin from GitHub here. This type of behaviour is explicitly against the GitHub terms of service, when we catch the accounts doing this we can (and do) take action against those accounts including banning the accounts. It's a game of whack-a-mole for sure, and it's not just start-ups that take part in this sketchy behaviour to be honest. I've been plenty of examples in my time across the board. The fundamental natur…
I know it is against the ToS. I've reported multiple organisations doing this. Last time I reported one, support closed the ticket saying the activity is off platform so they can't do anything.
Re: Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
#76Martin from GitHub here. This type of behaviour is explicitly against the GitHub terms of service, when we catch the accounts doing this we can (and do) take action against those accounts including banning the accounts. It's a game of whack-a-mole for sure, and it's not just start-ups that take part in this sketchy behaviour to be honest. I've been plenty of examples in my time across the board. The fundamental natur…
Nice, thank you Martin. How do you punish the fraudsters? Do you send them to prison over CFAA violation terms of service?
Re: Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
#77I also received this shitty email 3 days ago
Re: Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
#78Martin from GitHub here. This type of behaviour is explicitly against the GitHub terms of service, when we catch the accounts doing this we can (and do) take action against those accounts including banning the accounts. It's a game of whack-a-mole for sure, and it's not just start-ups that take part in this sketchy behaviour to be honest. I've been plenty of examples in my time across the board. The fundamental natur…
Are no-reply emails associated with the accounts if the username is changed? That's one reason why I switched back to my personal email.
Re: Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
#79Sometimes they also scrape HN profiles, it is most irritating.
Re: Tell HN: YC companies scrape GitHub activity, send spam emails to users
#80Doesn't YC have some code of conduct or legal/ethical guidelines? I would assume a legal and compliance department would have some major headache if documented cases of misconduct jeopardize later due diligence. I would not fund or aquire a company on the radar of national regulatory bodies for something as stupid as this.
Imagine thinking in 2026 that an American tech company has ethics.
Only free individual can have strong ethics. There are no free people in capitalism, money is debt after all. Think of applied pressure once you sign under VC money and amount of brainwashing / gaslighting. I sincerely hope my observation is wrong.