PeopleSmart: A new privacy concern?

Online database collates internet users' public information

As Facebook continues to push the envelope when it comes to privacy issues, a new startup has set its sights on gathering up your information in an online database, but with some twists that could actually give internet users more peace of mind about their privacy.

The database, launched Thursday, is called PeopleSmart, and it’s powered by Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup, Inflection, which also announced Thursday that it raised $30 million in its first round of funding from Matrix Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures. 

For a one-time fee of $1.95, a monthly fee of $2.95, or an annual fee of $39.95, users can type in any name and receive a full background report on that individual, which includes contact information, address history, social networks, professional listings, criminal history, employment history, motor accidents, bankruptcies, property ownership, and liens. The only thing missing is a list of pre-existing medical conditions and your credit card number.

Searched: names and contact info

The startup was founded by brothers Brian and Matthew Monahan, who created Inflection in 2006.  Co-founder Matthew Monahan explained over the phone that the genesis of PeopleSmart came when Harvard-student Brian Monahan was researching markets and realized that a large number of online searches are for names and contact information.  “He realized it’s a big market,” said Matthew. 

Indeed, the company’s press release cites a May 2010 Pew Research study, titled “Reputation Management and Social Media,” that finds that 57% of internet users use search engines to find information about themselves, and 46% of users also search online to find information about people from their past, which is up from 36% in 2006.

Users who want to plan high-school reunions or who simply want to reconnect with an old friend can type in a name and an old address and pull up that person’s information on the spot.  That also means that anyone else can access that information, too, and given the recent maelstrom of controversy surrounding Facebook’s privacy settings, the Monahan brothers anticipated concerns over privacy with PeopleSmart.

“Privacy is touchy,” Monahan explained.  “So we worked hard to add features and functionality that will give people more control over their information.  We looked at every specific data set to determine what can and can’t be published, as well as what should and shouldn’t be published."

The database doesn't publish sensitive information related to ethnic background or religious affiliation, and contact information, like phone numbers and email addresses, is not published, which obviously begs the question, why set up background profiles at all if those long-lost high school friends can’t contact you? 

“Emails are relayed,” said Monahan.  This way, people can still get in touch without receiving monsoons of spam mail.

The Web site offers a free 7-Day trial membership, so I signed up and tried it out.  I looked up my own name and found that while my background report does not contain my phone number, email address, or any mention of my collection of speeding tickets, it does have my address history for the last several years as well as the names and addresses of my mother and sisters (listed as “possible associates,” which gives them a very shady flavor, indeed), as well as a listing of all of my neighbors.

But before I start wailing and gnashing my teeth, Matthew Monahan informed me that I have the option of removing all of that information if I so choose.  Does that mean that a user has to pay to access the database to remove his or her information?

“No.  It’s all completely free.  You don’t even have to have an account,” said Monahan. 

But privacy concerns are bound to persist.  Why have all of that information in one place to begin with?

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Brian Monahan was quoted as saying that the Web site offers more privacy and security to people.  Than what?  An online database that has warehoused all your information?

Why not allow users to opt-in?

“It’s all about the control,” Matthew Monahan told me.  “The data is already online and available, but a lot of it is inaccurate and scattered.  We organized it to give people the opportunity to control what information they want available to others.  Our philosophy is: make it simple and give people control.”

Not a bad plan.  But it means you’ll have to hurry up and find that old ex-boyfriend before he removes his information.