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The fact that the data is being sold to third-parties (e.g., Sift) by their collectors (e.g., Airbnb) is troubling. But what is even more troubling is that we
by ENOTTY 7y ago
The fact that the data is being sold to third-parties (e.g., Sift) by their collectors (e.g., Airbnb) is troubling. But what is even more troubling is that we don't know how scoring companies (e.g., Sift) are using the data and how they are generating scores.
Their models, if they are using ML, are opaque. Journalists haven't yet cracked this nut, instead just reporting on the fact that company A has bought personal data from company B. (That is likely to require anonymous leaks from the scoring companies.)
I think the hacker ethos could be applied to this problem by viscerally illustrating the threat. ('Hacker' used in the same way as the infosec community.)
Hackers could request their own data, hypothesize what could be gleaned from it, and use models (potentially academic ones trained on more general datasets) to produce derivative information.
Then hackers should make tools to make this process easier for the average journalist or consumer.
- yoaviram 7y agoI created a free service which makes it easier to get Sift (and others) to delete your data: https://opt-out.eu/?company=sift.com https://opt-out.eu/?company=sift.com. It automates the process of sending GDPR erasure requests. I sent my request this morning. Support for GDPR SAR requests (get a copy of your data) is coming soon.
- efreak 7y agoYour website styles are off slightly, such that when I zoom in, then zoom back out, there's white margin at the left, next to any colored backgrounds. Also, on too small a screen, the browser extension text goes off both sides, rather than reflowing and fitting the screen size...
- progval 7y ago> The fact that the data is being sold to third-parties (e.g., Sift) by their collectors (e.g., Airbnb) is troubling. It looks like Airbnb & co paid Sift instead, in addition to sending it their data: "Sift has this data because the company has been hired by Airbnb, Yelp, and Coinbase"
- dennisgorelik 7y agoMy guess is that Airbnb will stop using Sift after this article is published, because of bad press Sift generated for Airbnb by giving Airbnb messages back to the original user (the author of that article).
- hinkley 7y agoBut the data is already out there and no longer working with the company that has it doesn't make it go away. If Sift goes out of business, this data won't go away. I'm starting to feel like these PII databases are the superfund sites of the electronic world. Even after the company goes out of business, we're dealing with the damage decades later.
- phyzome 7y agoImagine Airbnb changing their behavior because of bad press.