Dive Brief:
- Unroll.me, an email de-cluttering service, is under fire for selling user data to third parties, and Uber in particular, according to multiple sources.
- Unroll.me, which is owned by Slice Intelligence, reportedly gathered Lyft data in Unroll.me users' inboxes, then sold it to Lyft rival Uber, according to The New York Times.
- Jojo Hedaya, CEO of Unroll.me, posted an apology to the Unroll.me blog, but emphasized its data practices were disclosed in its user agreement. "Sure we have a Terms of Service Agreement and a plain-English Privacy Policy that our users agree they have read and understand before they even sign up, but the reality is most of us — myself included — don't take the time to thoroughly review them."
Dive Insight:
Slice Intelligence doesn’t hide the fact that its in the business of selling data to enhance user loyalty programs. And, as Hedaya pointed out, the company does disclose in its policies that it could share user data.
But the company's practices can serve as a warning for corporate users. If Unroll.me is installed on corporate accounts, it could then sell that data too, creating a huge problem for businesses.
Unroll.me is not solely to blame. Its data practices serve as a lesson in reading the fine print. Companies should work to educate users on what can happen when people start working with third-party service providers and they should be aware of what they're disclosing.
As more users are pushing back against companies, demanding for disclosure on data practices, some organizations are becoming more transparent. LinkedIn, for example, recently updated its terms of service to outline to users what data it collects. The company's updated privacy policy takes effect on June 7. In the updated policy, LinkedIn even highlighted key changes and offered explanations.
