Dating site creates profiles based on information scraped online - GoFuckYourself.com

drriley · 01-19-2011, 09:28 PM

Of course every dating site (or, at least all those that I am familiar with) use fake profiles, but this is going a step beyond. As the article mentions, it is unlikely this would be permitted in Australia, and I know that this would also be against Canadian privacy laws. I am not certain what the laws are in the U.S. -- and if this business is in the U.S., then I expect the situation may well be dealt with shortly, as I have a feeling that State level and Federal laws will be enacted, in the not too distant future, barring the this type of activity. In fact, it might already be covered (if challenged in court) under identity theft laws, depending on how those laws are written. Or, it might be considered a form of fraud. It is one thing to scrape publicly available info on people -- but, I think, quite another thing to use that information to create accounts that purport to be associated with individuals whom one does not represent, and has not sought permission from.

Dating site creates profiles based on information scraped online
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=10454

Various publicly available information regarding all US citizen is likely to be aggregated and be made available by Gotham Dating Partners, according to an announcement made by the company.

Gotham Dating Partners - among other things - manages a number of dating sites which have some 6.5 million members around the world. But apparently, this was only the beginning. Damon Jordan, the company's VP of marketing, says that their goal is to become a "public information source" for everyone searching for authentic information on any US citizen.

How do they plan to attain such a goal? By opening an account for every citizen and filling it with information scraped from various online sources: government census records, social networking sites, mailing lists, real estate listings, marketing surveys and many other.

As unappealing as that may sound to many concerned about their privacy, Jordan believes they will not encounter legal difficulties because all this information is already public and "free for the taking".

Apparently, even the information of foreign citizens will be gathered and sorted into profiles, and the only way to delete this information will be to log in and delete the profile.

Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgram thinks that this might not be possible for the company to do under Australia's Privacy Act 1988. "Organisations covered under the Privacy Act 1988 are generally required to provide individuals with notice that their information is being collected," he commented to iTnews.

In any case, it really does seem that the only way to keep you personal information from being collected is not to publish it online at all. Unfortunately, plenty of that information is already online because its publication does not depend on you.

drriley · 01-19-2011, 09:33 PM

An interesting article on the topic of personal information and whether your online presence is simply property or is it personal?

http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...113_703365.htm

BIGTYMER · 01-19-2011, 10:07 PM

They won't take me alive!!

01-19-2011, 09:28 PM	#1
drriley Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 263	Dating site creates profiles based on information scraped online Of course every dating site (or, at least all those that I am familiar with) use fake profiles, but this is going a step beyond. As the article mentions, it is unlikely this would be permitted in Australia, and I know that this would also be against Canadian privacy laws. I am not certain what the laws are in the U.S. -- and if this business is in the U.S., then I expect the situation may well be dealt with shortly, as I have a feeling that State level and Federal laws will be enacted, in the not too distant future, barring the this type of activity. In fact, it might already be covered (if challenged in court) under identity theft laws, depending on how those laws are written. Or, it might be considered a form of fraud. It is one thing to scrape publicly available info on people -- but, I think, quite another thing to use that information to create accounts that purport to be associated with individuals whom one does not represent, and has not sought permission from. Dating site creates profiles based on information scraped online http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=10454 Various publicly available information regarding all US citizen is likely to be aggregated and be made available by Gotham Dating Partners, according to an announcement made by the company. Gotham Dating Partners - among other things - manages a number of dating sites which have some 6.5 million members around the world. But apparently, this was only the beginning. Damon Jordan, the company's VP of marketing, says that their goal is to become a "public information source" for everyone searching for authentic information on any US citizen. How do they plan to attain such a goal? By opening an account for every citizen and filling it with information scraped from various online sources: government census records, social networking sites, mailing lists, real estate listings, marketing surveys and many other. As unappealing as that may sound to many concerned about their privacy, Jordan believes they will not encounter legal difficulties because all this information is already public and "free for the taking". Apparently, even the information of foreign citizens will be gathered and sorted into profiles, and the only way to delete this information will be to log in and delete the profile. Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgram thinks that this might not be possible for the company to do under Australia's Privacy Act 1988. "Organisations covered under the Privacy Act 1988 are generally required to provide individuals with notice that their information is being collected," he commented to iTnews. In any case, it really does seem that the only way to keep you personal information from being collected is not to publish it online at all. Unfortunately, plenty of that information is already online because its publication does not depend on you.

01-19-2011, 09:33 PM	#2
drriley Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 263	An interesting article on the topic of personal information and whether your online presence is simply property or is it personal? http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...113_703365.htm

01-19-2011, 10:07 PM	#3
BIGTYMER Junior Achiever Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Walled Garden Posts: 17,066	They won't take me alive!!