8 ms·

This same BS is perpetuated by YC backed Apollo.io by simply scraping public LinkedIn profiles & then masking asterisked emails & numbers(usually your company p

This same BS is perpetuated by YC backed Apollo.io by simply scraping public LinkedIn profiles & then masking asterisked emails & numbers(usually your company public numbers) & asking people to sign up. And when you do request them to remove the same, they ask you to provide ID proof. As if one would provide the same to a company which didn't take your consent for the initial profile data either. I somehow managed to get hold of the CEO's mail ID got mine removed. But I can only imagine what everyone else would have to do when they want to control their web-presence.

andyzweb 6y ago
Maybe post the CEO’s email here so we can all get our data removed as well?
- villgax 6y ago
  tim
SippinLean 6y ago
There are at least 50 data brokers I've had my information removed from. They will say whatever they can--"we need proof," "it's just public information anyway." Every time I insisted they take it down, right now. Every time they have complied. There's so many it's basically pulling weeds at this point. The scarier companies are the ones collecting pictures of your face to train their private facial recognition software. (Hell I'm hesitant to post HERE because you can't manage the privacy, content or existence of your comments)
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- rvnx 6y ago
  Some data brokers are threatening you with "if you get removed from our database you will be marked as high risk of fraud and your transactions/orders you do online like hotel reservations will get rejected/put on hold for screening". Well played. Absolutely legal but totally immoral
  - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
    But is it true? If not then I'm pretty sure in the UK at least there's some law against it.
    - Silhouette 6y ago
      There are certainly rules in the GDPR about automated decision-making that might be relevant. https://gdpr-info.eu/art-22-gdpr/ https://gdpr-info.eu/art-22-gdpr/ https://gdpr-info.eu/recitals/no-71/ https://gdpr-info.eu/recitals/no-71/
    - jan6 6y ago
      I don't know, but I'd think it's slightly true I'd guess you'll be marked in THEIR database, so if the hotel happens to use that company's lists, you might be marked, but not be high risk in anyone else's books...
  - nightcracker 6y ago
    That's not legal, because that is still personal information being stored. They have to delete it all, upon request.
    - JoshTriplett 6y ago
      The implication (whether true or false) is that some company might treat the absence of a record in their database as suspicious.
- koheripbal 6y ago
  > There's so many it's basically pulling weeds at this point. ...and they are often run by the same people. They use shell companies to basically avoid take-down requests. Their goals is to make it sufficiently annoying to take down your information, that most people give up. While at the same time removing it (regardless of the process) for anyone that occupies them too much time - because your individual data isn't valuable enough to waste defending against a take-down. I suspect a (faux) lawyers letter is easier to get these takedowns processed than the calls/emails that most people try.
  - JoshTriplett 6y ago
    I'd be interested to know if anyone has had success with any legal measure that would enjoin them or any other entity they're in any way affiliated with or that shares common ownership.
Aerroon 6y ago
>And when you do request them to remove the same, they ask you to provide ID proof. On the other hand, imagine one day you try to log in to your Twitter/Facebook/whatever-the next-big-thing-is and you can't, because the company has deleted all your data upon your request. You didn't make that request though. Someone else did it, claiming to be you. It gets even worse when you realize that people can request all the data the company has collected of themselves. What happens when somebody impersonates you and requests all of your data? You need to have some kind of verification method that leads back to a real identity. Otherwise this can be massively abused. I doubt that even asking for a real ID is enough.
- 1337shadow 6y ago
  Ok but he didn't subscribe on that website.
  - thierryzoller 6y ago
    OP here - That's the point. They are not a data controller by that very simple fact. They are processing this data on an illegal basis. Any lawyer around that want to assist me suing in the US?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - 1337shadow 6y ago
      Did you reach La Quadrature Du Net ? https://www.laquadrature.net/ https://www.laquadrature.net/ Also check other CCC co-organizers & the political activist sphere.
- rvnx 6y ago
  Electronic signatures tied to your ID. Don't delete instantly but after X days. Notify owner immediately. Problem solved.
  - 6y ago
thierryzoller 6y ago
I have a complaint sitting agains Apollo.io as well. I'll make sure to post the outcome here.
gingerlime 6y ago
I've been in touch with a company called Acxiom, who shared my details on Facebook. I've never heard of it, so I submitted a Data subject request to see what they know about me. They then asked me to provide my address to confirm my identity. Given that I moved quite frequently, and that I'm now asked to share more personal data with a company who's mishandling my data, I wasn't keen on it. I mentioned that my full name is globally unique, but they refused. I tried to ask them to share some masked data that I can confirm in full (e.g. "give me a partial address and house number, I can give you the full address"). They refused. They definitely try to make it hard for you, and to dodge responsibility.
- culturestate 6y ago
  Acxiom is one of the largest (and oldest, they started in the 1970s) data brokers in the world. I think they, like a lot of other creaky corporations, don't necessarily make things difficult on purpose but they...don't go out of their way to make the bureaucracy any more navigable than it has to be. In other words, it's not a bug, it's an accidental feature.
  - heavenlyblue 6y ago
    I am sorry, how does that resolve the issue of them operating illegally? The fact that you’re a old mess means you should be destroyed as a business to allow for newer, more ethical businesses to pop up. If this is an accidental feature it means you should be accidentally run out of business.
    - culturestate 6y ago
      > how does that resolve the issue of them operating illegally? Which part of the process described is illegal? The GDPR explicitly requires[1] controllers to verify subjects' identities in an access request: The controller should use all reasonable measures to verify the identity of a data subject who requests access, in particular in the context of online services and online identifiers. 1. https://gdpr.eu/recital-64-identity-verification/ https://gdpr.eu/recital-64-identity-verification/
privchek 6y ago
How does this apply to Clearbit which saves the Google Contact list of everyone who installs their extension [0][1] and then sells this data [2] ? They have >150K extension users, so they are syncing a massive contact list with personal information that they are then selling via their different products like Prospector [3]. [0] https://connect.clearbit.com https://connect.clearbit.com [1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearbit-connect-supercha/pmnhcgfcafcnkbengdcanjablaabjplo?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearbit-connect-s... [2] https://clearbit.com https://clearbit.com [3] https://clearbit.com/prospector https://clearbit.com/prospector
- Jommi 6y ago
  Couldn't find anything on those links or Google about them scraping your contact list. Would you have any proof or evidence supporting that statement?

andyzweb 6y ago

Maybe post the CEO’s email here so we can all get our data removed as well?

villgax 6y ago
tim

SippinLean 6y ago

There are at least 50 data brokers I've had my information removed from. They will say whatever they can--"we need proof," "it's just public information anyway." Every time I insisted they take it down, right now. Every time they have complied. There's so many it's basically pulling weeds at this point. The scarier companies are the ones collecting pictures of your face to train their private facial recognition software. (Hell I'm hesitant to post HERE because you can't manage the privacy, content or existence of your comments)

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
rvnx 6y ago
Some data brokers are threatening you with "if you get removed from our database you will be marked as high risk of fraud and your transactions/orders you do online like hotel reservations will get rejected/put on hold for screening". Well played. Absolutely legal but totally immoral
- throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
  But is it true? If not then I'm pretty sure in the UK at least there's some law against it.
  - Silhouette 6y ago
    There are certainly rules in the GDPR about automated decision-making that might be relevant. https://gdpr-info.eu/art-22-gdpr/ https://gdpr-info.eu/art-22-gdpr/ https://gdpr-info.eu/recitals/no-71/ https://gdpr-info.eu/recitals/no-71/
  - jan6 6y ago
    I don't know, but I'd think it's slightly true I'd guess you'll be marked in THEIR database, so if the hotel happens to use that company's lists, you might be marked, but not be high risk in anyone else's books...
- nightcracker 6y ago
  That's not legal, because that is still personal information being stored. They have to delete it all, upon request.
  - JoshTriplett 6y ago
    The implication (whether true or false) is that some company might treat the absence of a record in their database as suspicious.
koheripbal 6y ago
> There's so many it's basically pulling weeds at this point. ...and they are often run by the same people. They use shell companies to basically avoid take-down requests. Their goals is to make it sufficiently annoying to take down your information, that most people give up. While at the same time removing it (regardless of the process) for anyone that occupies them too much time - because your individual data isn't valuable enough to waste defending against a take-down. I suspect a (faux) lawyers letter is easier to get these takedowns processed than the calls/emails that most people try.
- JoshTriplett 6y ago
  I'd be interested to know if anyone has had success with any legal measure that would enjoin them or any other entity they're in any way affiliated with or that shares common ownership.

Aerroon 6y ago

>And when you do request them to remove the same, they ask you to provide ID proof. On the other hand, imagine one day you try to log in to your Twitter/Facebook/whatever-the next-big-thing-is and you can't, because the company has deleted all your data upon your request. You didn't make that request though. Someone else did it, claiming to be you. It gets even worse when you realize that people can request all the data the company has collected of themselves. What happens when somebody impersonates you and requests all of your data? You need to have some kind of verification method that leads back to a real identity. Otherwise this can be massively abused. I doubt that even asking for a real ID is enough.

1337shadow 6y ago
Ok but he didn't subscribe on that website.
- thierryzoller 6y ago
  OP here - That's the point. They are not a data controller by that very simple fact. They are processing this data on an illegal basis. Any lawyer around that want to assist me suing in the US?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - 1337shadow 6y ago
    Did you reach La Quadrature Du Net ? https://www.laquadrature.net/ https://www.laquadrature.net/ Also check other CCC co-organizers & the political activist sphere.
rvnx 6y ago
Electronic signatures tied to your ID. Don't delete instantly but after X days. Notify owner immediately. Problem solved.
- 6y ago

thierryzoller 6y ago

I have a complaint sitting agains Apollo.io as well. I'll make sure to post the outcome here.

gingerlime 6y ago

I've been in touch with a company called Acxiom, who shared my details on Facebook. I've never heard of it, so I submitted a Data subject request to see what they know about me. They then asked me to provide my address to confirm my identity. Given that I moved quite frequently, and that I'm now asked to share more personal data with a company who's mishandling my data, I wasn't keen on it. I mentioned that my full name is globally unique, but they refused. I tried to ask them to share some masked data that I can confirm in full (e.g. "give me a partial address and house number, I can give you the full address"). They refused. They definitely try to make it hard for you, and to dodge responsibility.

culturestate 6y ago
Acxiom is one of the largest (and oldest, they started in the 1970s) data brokers in the world. I think they, like a lot of other creaky corporations, don't necessarily make things difficult on purpose but they...don't go out of their way to make the bureaucracy any more navigable than it has to be. In other words, it's not a bug, it's an accidental feature.
- heavenlyblue 6y ago
  I am sorry, how does that resolve the issue of them operating illegally? The fact that you’re a old mess means you should be destroyed as a business to allow for newer, more ethical businesses to pop up. If this is an accidental feature it means you should be accidentally run out of business.
  - culturestate 6y ago
    > how does that resolve the issue of them operating illegally? Which part of the process described is illegal? The GDPR explicitly requires[1] controllers to verify subjects' identities in an access request: The controller should use all reasonable measures to verify the identity of a data subject who requests access, in particular in the context of online services and online identifiers. 1. https://gdpr.eu/recital-64-identity-verification/ https://gdpr.eu/recital-64-identity-verification/

privchek 6y ago

How does this apply to Clearbit which saves the Google Contact list of everyone who installs their extension [0][1] and then sells this data [2] ? They have >150K extension users, so they are syncing a massive contact list with personal information that they are then selling via their different products like Prospector [3]. [0] https://connect.clearbit.com https://connect.clearbit.com [1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearbit-connect-supercha/pmnhcgfcafcnkbengdcanjablaabjplo?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearbit-connect-s... [2] https://clearbit.com https://clearbit.com [3] https://clearbit.com/prospector https://clearbit.com/prospector

Jommi 6y ago
Couldn't find anything on those links or Google about them scraping your contact list. Would you have any proof or evidence supporting that statement?