4 ms·

I have to give it to FB - it's impressive how does their personal information collection and inference work. I was recently called by their recruiter - despite

by bitL 8y ago

I have to give it to FB - it's impressive how does their personal information collection and inference work. I was recently called by their recruiter - despite me being off FB for a few years, with inactive LinkedIn profile and keeping my current career info offline, they were perfectly informed what I am up to. Google messaged me as well. It's pretty amazing they could figure it out, even if I didn't really hide anything, just wasn't updating my status anywhere for quite a while nor talking to my acquaintances that could leak it through social engineering.

baxtr 8y ago
That’s super interesting. Could you elaborate what kind of information they had? Any idea how they managed to stay up to date?
734786710934 8y ago
Your employment history isn't private information. It's sold by data brokers to companies for recruiting.
- whatshisface 8y ago
  But who sells it to the data brokers?
  - windows_tips 8y ago
    spies
  - yuuuuy 8y ago
    Payroll companies (ADP etc) Background check companies that do employment reference verification checks for employers All three credit reporting companies have employment history products. So for example if your rental application includes your current and/or past employers, those will end up permanently with the credit reporting agency. Plus others. Basically anyone that gets your employment info will sell it since as far as I'm aware it is not protected in the same way your credit history is.
itronitron 8y ago
>> they were perfectly informed what I am up to Can you elaborate? If not with details then in general terms, i.e. what I had for breakfast last week, etc...
xtrapolate 8y ago
Not refuting your theory, but in all probability, you (like most others in the industry) have friends ("friends"?) that simply relay info to recruiters from these two companies. Poaching is often done that way. Also, at least in my case, both Google and Facebook periodically reach out, years after our last formal interaction. Had a recruiter working for one of my clients for a few years. They later left the company and joined the competition. Recruiter's past "success stories" all got contacted, not a week after.
- bitL 8y ago
  They specifically had info only my accountant had and I wasn't disclosing it to anyone outside closest family. They also contacted me within 10 minutes of each other which made it even more unusual. I guess somewhere in some system some of my info appeared and triggered both of them.
akerro 8y ago
>informed what I am up to. Google messaged me as well. Your recruiter is leaking your data, same happens in the UK. If you pass 3rd stage interview in Google, suddenly you get calls from Oracle, IBM, Amazon, MS and more. I never asked them to call me, never applied there, they just "somehow now" and want to rush with interviews with you.

by bitL 8y ago

baxtr 8y ago

That’s super interesting. Could you elaborate what kind of information they had? Any idea how they managed to stay up to date?

734786710934 8y ago

Your employment history isn't private information. It's sold by data brokers to companies for recruiting.

whatshisface 8y ago
But who sells it to the data brokers?
- windows_tips 8y ago
  spies
- yuuuuy 8y ago
  Payroll companies (ADP etc) Background check companies that do employment reference verification checks for employers All three credit reporting companies have employment history products. So for example if your rental application includes your current and/or past employers, those will end up permanently with the credit reporting agency. Plus others. Basically anyone that gets your employment info will sell it since as far as I'm aware it is not protected in the same way your credit history is.

itronitron 8y ago

>> they were perfectly informed what I am up to Can you elaborate? If not with details then in general terms, i.e. what I had for breakfast last week, etc...

xtrapolate 8y ago

Not refuting your theory, but in all probability, you (like most others in the industry) have friends ("friends"?) that simply relay info to recruiters from these two companies. Poaching is often done that way. Also, at least in my case, both Google and Facebook periodically reach out, years after our last formal interaction. Had a recruiter working for one of my clients for a few years. They later left the company and joined the competition. Recruiter's past "success stories" all got contacted, not a week after.

bitL 8y ago
They specifically had info only my accountant had and I wasn't disclosing it to anyone outside closest family. They also contacted me within 10 minutes of each other which made it even more unusual. I guess somewhere in some system some of my info appeared and triggered both of them.

akerro 8y ago

>informed what I am up to. Google messaged me as well. Your recruiter is leaking your data, same happens in the UK. If you pass 3rd stage interview in Google, suddenly you get calls from Oracle, IBM, Amazon, MS and more. I never asked them to call me, never applied there, they just "somehow now" and want to rush with interviews with you.