
Edelson’s Class-Action Privacy Suits Could Make Him Tech’s Least Friended Man - hendzen
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/technology/unpopular-in-silicon-valley.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
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rayiner
If you don't want to get sued, stick to the straight and narrow. Sell a
product in exchange for money that does what you say it will do. Don't collect
extensive user data, and protect what you do collect so it doesn't leak into
the world. But if you make your money dabbling in legally and morally gray
areas, then litigation is how you find out where the lines are drawn. There is
frivolous litigation in this space--firms hoping for a quick $100k payout to
just go away. But I don't think that's Edelson's business model.

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Semiapies
Tell that to everyone who's been wrongfully sued. There's no connection
between "the straight and narrow" and the law industry. When you have rooms of
people brainstorming who to sue next for the most money, sanctimony isn't
merited.

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intopieces
I'm not trying to be pedantic, but there is a connection between the straight
and narrow (i.e., the law) and the law industry. Netflix, for example,
committed a legal error, and they paid for it. This is essentially private
enforcement of the law. Whether the law is sensible is another discussion.

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chroem-
Good. All of this stealing of personal information as a business model is
pretty ethically questionable.

It's time that these companies come up with a revenue model that doesn't
involve facilitating the profiling and persecution of individuals by
government agencies and private interests such as HR.

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japhyr
> Good. All of this stealing of personal information as a business model is
> pretty ethically questionable.

I agree that "stealing personal information as a business model" is something
we should minimize. But is Edelson going after companies that are abusing
personal information, or just any business that collects information, which
might mean a payday for him or his clients?

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mhuffman
Even collecting it, without explicitly stating what you are going to do with
it, should be punished and prohibited. If it can identify you, you should be
clear what is to be done with it before you can make an informed decision to
give it to someone.

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jsprogrammer
On what basis?

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fnordfnordfnord
Basic human rights?

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fragsworth
> over the last few years many companies have adopted so-called arbitration
> clauses in which, simply by clicking the “accept terms” button, users waive
> their rights to join class actions. The move discourages plaintiffs’ lawyers
> because, unless they can sue on behalf of many clients at once, there is
> hardly any money in filing cases. “It may only be a matter of time before it
> is impossible for employees and consumers to file class actions,” Mr.
> Fitzpatrick said.

This is scary, especially considering that many of the big technology
companies are monopolies over the types of services they provide, and we are
forced to use them if we want to succeed in modern life.

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icebraining
Which companies are we forced to use to succeed in modern life?

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xnull2guest
LinkedIn has one of the strongest cases.

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vinceguidry
I deleted my LinkedIn profile a long time ago and never looked back. I can't
think of a better example of the meaningless that is only meaningful because
other people say it is. I don't even think about LinkedIn unless it's
mentioned here, that's how irrelevant to my life it is.

~~~
xnull2guest
> meaningless that is only meaningful because other people say it is

Couldn't this also describe dollars (currency), bitcoins, pretty much any
social media site, fashion and rules of hygiene (beyond what is merely
sanitary)?

Yes LinkedIn is only meaningful because other people say it is. But it's
meaningful and there are industries where people simply can not get hired
without a LinkedIn profile.

~~~
vinceguidry
Not at all. Things that have meaning have that meaning because other people
actually want them. Money is a means of exchange, legitimized by government.
It has a relevance that bitcoin does not have.

Plenty of things have conditional relevance. Hygiene matters as much as your
aspirations to social status. Social media matters only so much as you want to
connect with others. Fashion is hard to describe, but I believe it's
ultimately meaningful. If you completely ignore fashion it does affect you in
certain ways. Note that I'm not just referring to clothes, technology is
filled with fads as well.

LinkedIn is bullshit. Bullshit you can and should ignore. I refuse to believe
that there are entire industries that, collectively, firms in that industry
won't even talk to you without such a profile. You can believe that, or you
can believe that its your skills and ability to sell yourself that maintains
your hireability.

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CPLX
If this guy can in fact put Spokeo out of business I would like to volunteer
to buy him his first round of drinks in celebration.

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outside1234
Making lemonade out of lemons: Is there a list anywhere that tells you about
all of the privacy laws you need to be aware of (eg. the Illinois Biometric
one) and/or a known-good base privacy policy that a bootstrapper can use?

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ptaipale
I don't think there can be a one-size-fits-all solution, because what laws you
need to be aware depends on where you plan to operate. Within the US only, or
internationally? In which parts of the US - I understand there are different
laws regarding these things in differen states? And internationally, where?
You might even have to choose, because it is conceivable that something which
is mandatory in one country is forbidden in another.

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kbenson
Seems like a specialized consulting firm that gave advice on how best to craft
and present your privacy policy (which as the article explains some laws
stipulate conditions or items that must be presented to end users) based on
jurisdictions would do very well. A lot of up-front cost in legal research
which could then be amortized across multiple clients.

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sukilot
What you are describing is called a law firm.

~~~
kbenson
Yes, obviously. But that's like referring to a pit crew as "a bunch of
mechanics". Technically correct but ultimately not very useful.

Not every firm wants to specialize in this though, and a specialized firm
would provide a lot of value. I imagine some exist, but obviously they either
aren't very popular, aren't very good, or are ignored.

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jlarocco
I'm glad somebody is doing this.

I think, if they knew, most people wouldn't be happy with how their private
data is being used by tech companies.

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arfliw
>“Money doesn’t mean a ton,” Mr. Edelson said during an interview in the lobby
of the Four Seasons hotel in San Francisco, wearing a watch whose face was
loaded with diamond flecks.

Well played.

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driverdan
It doesn't mean he's being dishonest. If I was making 7-8 figures a year I'd
own some expensive things too. It doesn't mean that money would be my primary
driver though.

~~~
arfliw
Whatever it means, the reporter was implying he's full of shit.

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sukilot
Insinuating, not implying. Which is poir journalism.

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anonymousab
>Asked to sum up the tech community’s feelings about Mr. Edelson, Sam Altman,
president of Y Combinator, a technology incubator that invests in very young
companies, said the lawyer was regarded as “a leech tarted up as a freedom
fighter.”

I guess that means even leeches have their societal uses.

~~~
sukilot
Mr Altman certainly has learned Mr Graham's knack for putting his foot in his
mouth.

There are better ways to disagree with someone who made a career of fighting
for the public interest, even if he might threaten your investments in
crapware bundlers or Craigslist spammers.

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ForHackernews
Is there any evidence companies have modified their behavior in response to
these lawsuits?

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sukilot
PSA. This article is about Jay Edelson.

You may also be interested to learn about Ben Edelman, who famously does
similar sort of work.

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username223
> Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator, a technology incubator that invests
> in very young companies, said the lawyer was regarded as “a leech tarted up
> as a freedom fighter.”

"Tarted?" Feel the homophobic side of the Force, Sam. As long as "track people
as much as you can, under a EULA that gives you all the rights you can
imagine" is a business model, Jay Edelson is necessary.

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picks_at_nits
A “tart” is a prostitute or sexually promiscuous woman. From this we get
“tarted up," to adorn, dress, or decorate, especially in a flamboyant manner.
“Tarted up” is nearly always used opprobriously.

I find no factual basis for your claim that Mr. Altman made a homophobic
remark. You are welcome to refile suit on the basis that he perpetuated sexist
stereotypes via slut-shaming language.

~~~
username223
> A “tart” is a prostitute or sexually promiscuous woman.

Right. What do you think Sam meant when he called this man a "sexually
promiscuous woman?"

~~~
picks_at_nits
To respond with precision, “tarted up” doesn’t literally mean to be a tart,
but _to dress up like a tart_. Thus it is that you can “tart up” even
inanimate objects, e.g. “they’re really tarted this restaurant up."

