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It's worth posting the response that Yodlee made[0], but essentially it says that Yodlee does give information to a few companies that use it for analytics purp
by yladiz 10y ago
It's worth posting the response that Yodlee made[0], but essentially it says that Yodlee does give information to a few companies that use it for analytics purposes, in a form that's "de-identified" and scrubbed of PII. The response goes to lengths to say that the information has been scrubbed of any PII and in every point made in the bullet list, it talks about that specific point. While I don't doubt this, I do doubt that it's not impossible to de-anonymize the data, which is the more important part; it doesn't matter if a company hasn't done it or there is no proof that a company doesn't do it, it matters if it's possible because Yodlee could be breached and that information could then be used in ways that companies that are legally bound to agreements not to do it can't/don't. Just because the "good guys" don't do something doesn't mean it's not possible and that it'll never happen.
On a side note, it feels like the response wasn't proof read very well because there are quite a few glaring typos and issues. Someone at the company couldn't have given it a better review before posting, or reviewed it as they were adding the addendum?
0: https://www.yodlee.com/yodlee-responds/ https://www.yodlee.com/yodlee-responds/
- x0x0 10y agoThe response in no way addresses why Yodlee is so amazingly duplicitous. Look at how Yodlee collects the data: Yodlee begins collecting transaction data from bank customers after they sign up to use online tools powered by Yodlee. Some information also goes to Yodlee through a practice called “screen scraping.” If a person uses a budgeting app created by Yodlee and gives the app permission to access their bank accounts using their username and password, Yodlee can capture the transaction history in those accounts. How much do you want to bet the vast majority of those customers have (1) no idea Yodlee is doing this, (2) were informed in only the most oblique way hidden in pages of legal text, and (3) would not be enthused about this if they knew.
- shostack 10y agoPresumably people who want their budgeting app know it needs this data to do the job. I'm a user of their Money Center product and it is a great way to see my finances at my finger tips and has way better reporting than Mint who also presumably does similar things and pushes a ton of affiliate offers.
- x0x0 10y agoRight, showing a budget obviously can't be accomplished without reselling the data to hedge funds, etc.
- pdkl95 10y ago> Yodlee could be breached That's the part that data-collecting businesses like to ignore. Either they have perfect security - which is patently not true - or they are risking everyone's data. If they really believe the risk of a breach was low enough, they should be indemnifying their users against any damages from data breaches. Obviously, they won't, which demonstrates how much trust they put in their security. Also, financial transactions are probably the easiest data to de-anonymize. How many other people match the $42.13 you spent on gas at 7:32 this morning? Cross referencing with a few more transactions should eliminate the rare coincidence.