3 ms·

There absolutely is everything wrong with implicating a company that has no knowledge of and no responsibility for the breach.

tptacek 1mo ago
You mean the Blackstone namedrop? I had the same reaction. Beam is an internal division of Blackstone, for whatever that's worth, but I don't think there's a news hook about Blackstone here. This is, like, every property management company everywhere, whether indie or corporate.
- bearsyankees 1mo ago
  If this is the case then IMO all the more reason to publicize it -- my SSN shouldn't be exposed just because I applied for a lease [ and we shouldn't just brush that off as something that is a given ]
  - tptacek 1mo ago
    I mean, that's true, and I'm not saying there's anything misleading about the post, just that this is true of basically all the companies that do this. All I'm saying is that there isn't a meaningful Blackstone hook here.
    - DANmode 1mo ago
      If you’re too big to manage your subsidiaries, don’t buy them/build them. This is no different than blaming the big AI tool because it messed up doing work in your spaghetti codebase - “how else was I supposed to do it?”. Stay small enough to do business properly. Yes, this is a ding on the parent company. How indicative it is of their other companies making the exact same mistakes is a different question. But I’d expect issues somewhere.
      - tptacek 1mo ago
        Beam Living manages giant high-rise housing developments in New York City. It's not a mom-and-pop problem space, unless you're for some reason opposed to density.
        DANmode 1mo ago
        I’m opposed to using your scale as an excuse to be an incompetent. It’s one of the major ethical / effectiveness issues with business - especially American business - today.
        tptacek 1mo ago
        You'd much rather rent from someone like Beam Living than a mom-and-pop operator that owns a small apartment building. Things will get fixed, and you'll get most of your security deposit back.
        tmnvix 1mo ago
        Personally, I've always had a better experience dealing directly with small time landlords than with property managers. For a start, they have been less likely to raise rents at every opportunity. I also prefer when my money goes to someone in my community/local area.
        tptacek 1mo ago
        I've never once gotten a security deposit back from a mom-and-pop landlord without forcing the issue legally, and I did an informal poll of acquaintances last year and we had never even heard of that happening. Unlike mom-and-pops, corporate property managers just do what they say they're going to do.
        tmnvix 1mo ago
        That sucks. Maybe it's a cultural thing or due to different regulations (I'm not in North America)? Anyhow, all else being equal, so long as I am living in a transactional society, I prefer those transactions to be with people I actually know. I like real relationships. So much of the way we are changing as a society seems to be alienating us from each other - I make a point of trying to counter that in my daily life.
    - antonvs 1mo ago
      > this is true of basically all the companies that do this Evidence?
      - tptacek 1mo ago
        Just Google "property manager" "data leak".
        antonvs 1mo ago
        Sorry, but that's not evidence of "true of basically all the companies that do this". Your vibes are not evidence. I don't understand what you even think you're getting at. Are you saying we should accept this because all companies are like this? Except not all companies are like this. The only way this kind of thing ever gets fixed is if it's not considered acceptable. You're essentially arguing that it's acceptable. Why? It's a weird sort of kowtowing to incompetent corporations that I just don't understand. Is it that you work for one of them?
        tptacek 1mo ago
        I'm sure it would be enjoyable to find someone to argue with who would take the other side of "vulnerabilities are bad" but I can't be that person for you, sorry.
        antonvs 1mo ago
        DARVO only works if it's plausible. You were implicitly defending the existence of this vulnerability by making the unsupported claim that this was "true of basically all the companies that do this." When asked to back up the claim, you deflected. I'm reminded of the banality of evil. You're not trying to be evil, you're just defending large corporations because you've irrationally concluded from some individual examples you've seen that "everyone does it", and therefore there's nothing that can or should be done about it, including even just mentioning it in a post. That's false, and you're wrong.
- jimbo89 1mo ago
  Beam is actually a little bit unique here. They have a spent a lot of money building a lot of custom software that most other property managers just buy off the shelf.
- consensus1 1mo ago
  Yes, that's what I meant, but I thought your comment meant that it was a property management company hired by Blackstone, not an internal division of Blackstone. That changes things completely.

tptacek 1mo ago

You mean the Blackstone namedrop? I had the same reaction. Beam is an internal division of Blackstone, for whatever that's worth, but I don't think there's a news hook about Blackstone here. This is, like, every property management company everywhere, whether indie or corporate.

bearsyankees 1mo ago
If this is the case then IMO all the more reason to publicize it -- my SSN shouldn't be exposed just because I applied for a lease [ and we shouldn't just brush that off as something that is a given ]
- tptacek 1mo ago
  I mean, that's true, and I'm not saying there's anything misleading about the post, just that this is true of basically all the companies that do this. All I'm saying is that there isn't a meaningful Blackstone hook here.
  - DANmode 1mo ago
    If you’re too big to manage your subsidiaries, don’t buy them/build them. This is no different than blaming the big AI tool because it messed up doing work in your spaghetti codebase - “how else was I supposed to do it?”. Stay small enough to do business properly. Yes, this is a ding on the parent company. How indicative it is of their other companies making the exact same mistakes is a different question. But I’d expect issues somewhere.
    - tptacek 1mo ago
      Beam Living manages giant high-rise housing developments in New York City. It's not a mom-and-pop problem space, unless you're for some reason opposed to density.
      - DANmode 1mo ago
        I’m opposed to using your scale as an excuse to be an incompetent. It’s one of the major ethical / effectiveness issues with business - especially American business - today.
        tptacek 1mo ago
        You'd much rather rent from someone like Beam Living than a mom-and-pop operator that owns a small apartment building. Things will get fixed, and you'll get most of your security deposit back.
        tmnvix 1mo ago
        Personally, I've always had a better experience dealing directly with small time landlords than with property managers. For a start, they have been less likely to raise rents at every opportunity. I also prefer when my money goes to someone in my community/local area.
        tptacek 1mo ago
        I've never once gotten a security deposit back from a mom-and-pop landlord without forcing the issue legally, and I did an informal poll of acquaintances last year and we had never even heard of that happening. Unlike mom-and-pops, corporate property managers just do what they say they're going to do.
        tmnvix 1mo ago
        That sucks. Maybe it's a cultural thing or due to different regulations (I'm not in North America)? Anyhow, all else being equal, so long as I am living in a transactional society, I prefer those transactions to be with people I actually know. I like real relationships. So much of the way we are changing as a society seems to be alienating us from each other - I make a point of trying to counter that in my daily life.
  - antonvs 1mo ago
    > this is true of basically all the companies that do this Evidence?
    - tptacek 1mo ago
      Just Google "property manager" "data leak".
      - antonvs 1mo ago
        Sorry, but that's not evidence of "true of basically all the companies that do this". Your vibes are not evidence. I don't understand what you even think you're getting at. Are you saying we should accept this because all companies are like this? Except not all companies are like this. The only way this kind of thing ever gets fixed is if it's not considered acceptable. You're essentially arguing that it's acceptable. Why? It's a weird sort of kowtowing to incompetent corporations that I just don't understand. Is it that you work for one of them?
        tptacek 1mo ago
        I'm sure it would be enjoyable to find someone to argue with who would take the other side of "vulnerabilities are bad" but I can't be that person for you, sorry.
        antonvs 1mo ago
        DARVO only works if it's plausible. You were implicitly defending the existence of this vulnerability by making the unsupported claim that this was "true of basically all the companies that do this." When asked to back up the claim, you deflected. I'm reminded of the banality of evil. You're not trying to be evil, you're just defending large corporations because you've irrationally concluded from some individual examples you've seen that "everyone does it", and therefore there's nothing that can or should be done about it, including even just mentioning it in a post. That's false, and you're wrong.
jimbo89 1mo ago
Beam is actually a little bit unique here. They have a spent a lot of money building a lot of custom software that most other property managers just buy off the shelf.
consensus1 1mo ago
Yes, that's what I meant, but I thought your comment meant that it was a property management company hired by Blackstone, not an internal division of Blackstone. That changes things completely.