Privacy and data-sharing...
So here's a thing:
I got an email from OKCupid last night. To my gmail address, the one that is not listed on my LJ profile (but that gets my LJ notifications). It said, "Happy Nth Birthday, Cofax!", and used my correct age.
... I have my birthday on my LJ profile, but not my year of birth.
So.
How did OKCupid get this information? I have no membership with them, desire no membership with them. Only a few online services have my gmail address: LJ, box.net, YSI. I don't use the gmail address for RL-related stuff, and I don't use my yahoo address for fannish stuff (except for Paypal).
So, who gave OKCupid that data? ::stares meaningfully at LJ::
ETA: I am informed that it's probably those OKCupid meme things to blame, although I don't recall actually giving them my birthday information... End edit.
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In other privacy news, here's an interesting post about the Beacon debacle and Facebook, with some application to how LJ has and hasn't managed its interactions with its membership. Rather than asking whether its practices are really acceptable to clients, the organization does what it wants and then tries to sell its actions to clients. The strategy works, until angry clients seize control of the conversation.
I got an email from OKCupid last night. To my gmail address, the one that is not listed on my LJ profile (but that gets my LJ notifications). It said, "Happy Nth Birthday, Cofax!", and used my correct age.
... I have my birthday on my LJ profile, but not my year of birth.
So.
How did OKCupid get this information? I have no membership with them, desire no membership with them. Only a few online services have my gmail address: LJ, box.net, YSI. I don't use the gmail address for RL-related stuff, and I don't use my yahoo address for fannish stuff (except for Paypal).
So, who gave OKCupid that data? ::stares meaningfully at LJ::
ETA: I am informed that it's probably those OKCupid meme things to blame, although I don't recall actually giving them my birthday information... End edit.
*
In other privacy news, here's an interesting post about the Beacon debacle and Facebook, with some application to how LJ has and hasn't managed its interactions with its membership. Rather than asking whether its practices are really acceptable to clients, the organization does what it wants and then tries to sell its actions to clients. The strategy works, until angry clients seize control of the conversation.