Responsible Use of User Data
by DanI just got an email from Reunion.com, one of the many online alumni services/directories, telling me that by joining their premium service, I can see which of their users has looked at my profile page there. Never mind that I don’t ever recall having a profile page there or that only, sadly, one person has looked at it, I’m stunned that users’ undisguised browsing behavior is being sold to other users, probably without their knowledge and consent. Their user agreement has this to say:
By posting messages, uploading files, inputting data, or engaging in any other form of communication through this website, you are granting Reunion.com and its affiliates permission to: use, modify, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, publish, sublicense, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any such communication.
Does simply using the site as it was designed count as “inputting data” even if I am not aware that I am doing that simply by browsing?
For old friends, sure, seeing that I had looked at their profile might not be a big deal. But perhaps I want to see what an old girlfriend or even an ancient, sworn enemy is up to. Do I want them to know I’m checking up on them? Of course not. It would be personally embarrassing to me.
Unless I am specifically told (and can thus alter my behavior accordingly) that my personal data (including my individual usage patterns) can be used to identify me, it’s become an ethical standard that web sites will protect my privacy by only using it only in aggregate or anonymously. I know for certain I will never use Reunion.com again—at least not as freely as I otherwise might have.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, June 22nd, 2006 at 12:17 pm and is filed under What Were They Thinking?.
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