4 ms·

Gabriel, In Googling "namesdatabase" I've come across some old claims of allegedly dubious practices of the site that occurred while you were running it. I kno

by mthoms 16y ago

Gabriel, In Googling "namesdatabase" I've come across some old claims of allegedly dubious practices of the site that occurred while you were running it. I know your reputation is stellar here and that you contribute much to the community so I was more than a bit surprised. May I ask, have you addressed these allegations somewhere? I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt, so I'm wondering where I can read your side of the story. Is there an HN thread or blog post you can point me towards? Many thanks.

epi0Bauqu 16y ago
Happy to answer questions. I think these address most things: http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/bdlri/dont_want_google_to_know_about_your_anime_pillow/c0m8qp0 http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/bdlri/dont_want_... http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/cnce8/duckduckgos_new_privacy_policy_explains_why_you/c0tt1vo http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/cnce8/duckduckgo... http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/cncn2/a_search_engine_privacy_policy_not_written_by_the/c0tt1vl http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/cncn2/a_search_engin... http://ye.gg/mixergy http://ye.gg/mixergy I think a lot of it stems from either misunderstanding, edge cases (http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/02/one-in-a-million-happens-a-lot-when-your-site-is-big.html http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/02/one-in-a-million...), or just a fundamental problem with the idea of referring friends.
- mthoms 16y ago
  Thanks for the links and your transparency. I will read up. Just to clarify - the reason I see this as relevant is because I'm a regular DDG user and put a lot of trust in your privacy claims (no logging of queries, etc).
  - epi0Bauqu 16y ago
    Yup, I understand. If you're ever in Philadelphia, feel free to stop by and I can show you no logging in real time. As for NDB, the biggest points from my perspective are that: --you could opt-out from emails or remove yourself from the database at any time. --you could see a detailed explanation of how every aspect of the site worked before signing up, on a page I spent countless hours writing and tweaking. --similarly, there was a vast support system that answered almost any faq. --you could see the whole database on our static site before signing up.
    - follower 16y ago
      I'm intrigued by the issues raised by selling a company which has personal data like in the case of NDB. When you sold NDB did you have any concerns about how the new owners would treat members and their data? Knowing what has happened since (which--for some people at least--seems to be controversial) the sale would you do anything differently if you could? A few years ago I had a company approach me to sell a small site I was running but I was never quite convinced they weren't just spammers/scammers wanting a customer list and felt like I owed my users more than that.
      - epi0Bauqu 16y ago
        Definitely. The buyers were a public company who had recently bought classmates.com, were changing out the management, and had wanted to make it into a better site so-to-speak. I haven't substantiated any of the post claims, so I can't really speak to what happened. However, I would say that I think it really makes a difference if the team is going to stay or not.

by mthoms 16y ago

epi0Bauqu 16y ago

Happy to answer questions. I think these address most things: http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/bdlri/dont_want_google_to_know_about_your_anime_pillow/c0m8qp0 http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/bdlri/dont_want_... http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/cnce8/duckduckgos_new_privacy_policy_explains_why_you/c0tt1vo http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/cnce8/duckduckgo... http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/cncn2/a_search_engine_privacy_policy_not_written_by_the/c0tt1vl http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/cncn2/a_search_engin... http://ye.gg/mixergy http://ye.gg/mixergy I think a lot of it stems from either misunderstanding, edge cases (http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/02/one-in-a-million-happens-a-lot-when-your-site-is-big.html http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/02/one-in-a-million...), or just a fundamental problem with the idea of referring friends.

mthoms 16y ago
Thanks for the links and your transparency. I will read up. Just to clarify - the reason I see this as relevant is because I'm a regular DDG user and put a lot of trust in your privacy claims (no logging of queries, etc).
- epi0Bauqu 16y ago
  Yup, I understand. If you're ever in Philadelphia, feel free to stop by and I can show you no logging in real time. As for NDB, the biggest points from my perspective are that: --you could opt-out from emails or remove yourself from the database at any time. --you could see a detailed explanation of how every aspect of the site worked before signing up, on a page I spent countless hours writing and tweaking. --similarly, there was a vast support system that answered almost any faq. --you could see the whole database on our static site before signing up.
  - follower 16y ago
    I'm intrigued by the issues raised by selling a company which has personal data like in the case of NDB. When you sold NDB did you have any concerns about how the new owners would treat members and their data? Knowing what has happened since (which--for some people at least--seems to be controversial) the sale would you do anything differently if you could? A few years ago I had a company approach me to sell a small site I was running but I was never quite convinced they weren't just spammers/scammers wanting a customer list and felt like I owed my users more than that.
    - epi0Bauqu 16y ago
      Definitely. The buyers were a public company who had recently bought classmates.com, were changing out the management, and had wanted to make it into a better site so-to-speak. I haven't substantiated any of the post claims, so I can't really speak to what happened. However, I would say that I think it really makes a difference if the team is going to stay or not.