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I've seen a demo where given my email address they could pull up my name, address, profession, age, and I forget what else. Yes, it's already in unscrupulous ha

I've seen a demo where given my email address they could pull up my name, address, profession, age, and I forget what else. Yes, it's already in unscrupulous hands.

WillPostForFood 8y ago
Facebook?
unreal37 8y ago
LinkedIn.
groestl 8y ago
FullContact? Although it's "Enhanced Contact API" has been discontinued.
Pristina 8y ago
people were so afraid of BIGTECHs getting their hands on all your personal data. When in reality, a 13 year old can just ask around on some forums and get it.
- thejohnconway 8y ago
  The 13 year old can get it because BIGTECH collected it and shared it carelessly, no?
  - dspillett 8y ago
    > collected it and shared it carelessly Or often, as in this case, collected it and stored it carelessly so someone else could get in and use or share it at will.
tiimbz 8y ago
I've seen that too. This API for example [0] called "email enrichment" where I got my full name back, based on email address. Edit: Added main company link providing this API [1] [0] https://app.livestorm.co/api/v1/utils/email-enrichment/?email=emailaddresshere https://app.livestorm.co/api/v1/utils/email-enrichment/?emai... [1] https://docs.enrich.email/ https://docs.enrich.email/
- kaoD 8y ago
  My data is empty, even though I'm not that paranoid about privacy (but I do take some care). This specific API seems pretty innocuous. They're not doing black magic, it's just aggregating data that people willingly put out there about themselves. I'm sure I'm out there in many datasets with stolen (or just "shared") information.
  - distances 8y ago
    > This specific API seems pretty innocuous. They're not doing black magic, it's just aggregating data that people willingly put out there about themselves. That's has always been illegal in my country though (you can't even keep a record of people with pen and paper), and now with GDPR would of course be illegal with actual consequences if it contains data about EU citizens.
    - tomgp 8y ago
      >now with GDPR would of course be illegal with actual consequences if it contains data about EU citizens. which, as an EU citizen, I can confirm it does
    - mises 8y ago
      Regardless, they're not based in Europe. Unless they do business in the EU, they can't touch them. This is due to the fact that extradition requires something to be a crime in both countries, so unless the EU has assets to seize, nothing they can do. And if they try, any American court will be very leery of setting the precedent that Brussels can tell Americans what to do in any sense, particularly with respect to data stored on their servers.
      - GenericsMotors 8y ago
        Perhaps not directly, but if they're processing the information of EU data subjects on behalf of another company that does business in the EU, then that company will have to justify using this service, which is clearly not GDPR compliant. I imagine the company using them will want to recover financial losses they incur after getting reamed by whatever european Data Protection Authority decides to go after them - especially if the culprits did promote themselves as being GDPR compliant. The point of the EU's strong data protection rules is to have accountability - and it will fall on someone along the chain that caused the mess. Companies can't be allowed to completely disregard how they collect and store data and then go "Oops, haha sorry about that!" when the shit inevitably hits the fan, and just continue their business as usual.
mathnmusic 8y ago
Some companies in this space: Clearbit, FullContact
sbhn 8y ago
Equifax and every other latest fintech startup who believes there amazing data slurping ml/ai idea is going to change the world

I've seen a demo where given my email address they could pull up my name, address, profession, age, and I forget what else. Yes, it's already in unscrupulous hands.

WillPostForFood 8y ago

Facebook?

unreal37 8y ago

LinkedIn.

groestl 8y ago

FullContact? Although it's "Enhanced Contact API" has been discontinued.

Pristina 8y ago

people were so afraid of BIGTECHs getting their hands on all your personal data. When in reality, a 13 year old can just ask around on some forums and get it.

thejohnconway 8y ago
The 13 year old can get it because BIGTECH collected it and shared it carelessly, no?
- dspillett 8y ago
  > collected it and shared it carelessly Or often, as in this case, collected it and stored it carelessly so someone else could get in and use or share it at will.

tiimbz 8y ago

I've seen that too. This API for example [0] called "email enrichment" where I got my full name back, based on email address. Edit: Added main company link providing this API [1] [0] https://app.livestorm.co/api/v1/utils/email-enrichment/?email=emailaddresshere https://app.livestorm.co/api/v1/utils/email-enrichment/?emai... [1] https://docs.enrich.email/ https://docs.enrich.email/

kaoD 8y ago
My data is empty, even though I'm not that paranoid about privacy (but I do take some care). This specific API seems pretty innocuous. They're not doing black magic, it's just aggregating data that people willingly put out there about themselves. I'm sure I'm out there in many datasets with stolen (or just "shared") information.
- distances 8y ago
  > This specific API seems pretty innocuous. They're not doing black magic, it's just aggregating data that people willingly put out there about themselves. That's has always been illegal in my country though (you can't even keep a record of people with pen and paper), and now with GDPR would of course be illegal with actual consequences if it contains data about EU citizens.
  - tomgp 8y ago
    >now with GDPR would of course be illegal with actual consequences if it contains data about EU citizens. which, as an EU citizen, I can confirm it does
  - mises 8y ago
    Regardless, they're not based in Europe. Unless they do business in the EU, they can't touch them. This is due to the fact that extradition requires something to be a crime in both countries, so unless the EU has assets to seize, nothing they can do. And if they try, any American court will be very leery of setting the precedent that Brussels can tell Americans what to do in any sense, particularly with respect to data stored on their servers.
    - GenericsMotors 8y ago
      Perhaps not directly, but if they're processing the information of EU data subjects on behalf of another company that does business in the EU, then that company will have to justify using this service, which is clearly not GDPR compliant. I imagine the company using them will want to recover financial losses they incur after getting reamed by whatever european Data Protection Authority decides to go after them - especially if the culprits did promote themselves as being GDPR compliant. The point of the EU's strong data protection rules is to have accountability - and it will fall on someone along the chain that caused the mess. Companies can't be allowed to completely disregard how they collect and store data and then go "Oops, haha sorry about that!" when the shit inevitably hits the fan, and just continue their business as usual.

mathnmusic 8y ago

Some companies in this space: Clearbit, FullContact

sbhn 8y ago

Equifax and every other latest fintech startup who believes there amazing data slurping ml/ai idea is going to change the world