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Surprising Science

Online Profiling

“I’m as concerned about startups using Rapleaf’s API as I am about how the company continues to mine data from huge data-rich social services such as LinkedIn.”
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“I don’t have old-fashioned notions about privacy on the Internet. I know the realities of today’s Internet life. In order to enjoy the convenience of using web-based services, one has to make some sacrifices, and living socially online will eventually lead to an erosion of privacy. However, what I find egregious is how the information is surreptitiously collected all over the web, then aggregated to be sold, without us having any control or ability to look into that data. Sure we can opt out, but only if we know that we’re being profiled. (Ironically, you have to register to opt-out.)”

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