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Saw your other HN post: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1341236 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1341236. Here's an idea - make an app for people concern

Saw your other HN post: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1341236 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1341236. Here's an idea - make an app for people concerned about privacy - both, their own, as well as that of their friends and family. What if you sent a message through your app to each person who is revealing personal details about themselves, a) letting them know what's out there b) showing them how to fix it/offering an alternative. In case you are not able to do so directly, you may be able to reach these folks through the people who've installed your app. You could also have a public-facing presence that shows how many possibly privacy fiascos you've helped people notice/squash. edit/ps: I'd be interested in collaborating, if you're interested in making a public-service app like that.

mea36 16y ago
Check out this paper 'FlyByNight: mitigating the privacy risks of social networking' (it can be found on ACM). http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1456405&dl=GUIDE&coll=GUIDE&CFID=72497080&CFTOKEN=94709138 http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1456405&dl=GUIDE&#... These people tried something like your idea. If you're going to do something like what they did then in my opinion it isn't really feasible. For starters there are scalability issues. Also, if you're concerned about your privacy but want to message someone who doesn't have this app then you're forced to message them insecurely. I remember having some other reservations about this when I read it but it's been a few months and I've forgotten them.