MySpace begins selling bulk user data

readwriteweb.com

29 points·sounddust··8 comments

According to official anouncement [1]:

> This data is not sold by MySpace, but given out for free from their API and then packaged by Infochimps for redistribution.

So the title is wrong. It's not MySpace who sells the data, it's InfoChimp.

[1]: http://blog.infochimps.org/2010/03/12/announcing-bulk-redist...

They're not the party selling the data to the users, but they are a beneficiary to the proceeds.

> these datasets are the results of an agreement with them to redistribute their data, with revenue share, on Infochimps.

To me, this sounds equivalent to Infochimps acting as an agent for Myspace's sale of data.

Interesting how as one giant corp gets nailed for sharing its user data in an attempt to improve its service Netflix, another goes ahead and shares them for profit.

Perhaps because MySpace belongs to a very powerful "news" organization with close ties with government.

The reason is there's a very specific law about video rental privacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Privacy_Protection_Act

US web users's privacy should be protected by the FTC, IMHO.

Is Myspace's privacy policy significantly different from Netflix's that they don't have to worry about a lawsuit?

Anyone want to guess the percentage of this date that will be spam? 80%?

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