And this is why I'm glad I never use RescueTime. This can't possibly help a job seeker - at best, you confirm that you're looking at the right things. At worst, it's an easy reason for a recruiter to pass you over.
Totally understand your concern here. I can assure you recruiters will never see the data you don't show them yourself. It's part of our core values for this project. Hell, I wouldn't want to show recruiters my data without removing some things or highlighting others. That's why we launched with the ability to create your own profile. That's the only thing anyone can ever see of your data, and you have full control over it.
Hey guys, I just wanted to say that we really did consider the HN crowd when we made this. PG and I had a conversation where it became clear that the core of this project needs to be don't offend HN. Check out the bottom of this page: http://rescuetime.com/intros and our faq: http://rescuetime.com/profiles/faq
We realize that the whole point of this breaks down if it ventures into the creepy side. We'd rather do something creatively useful and beneficial for our users with their data they're trusting us with.
Quoth PG: "After all these years of moderating Hacker News, I understand it very well, and it is going to hate this project unless the entire design spec is “don’t offend HN.”"
That's prescient feedback. I want you to succeed, I really do. I understand the vision for the product. But tell me: which part, specifically, of "We automatically developed a CarFax report on Patrick McKenzie for distribution to recruiters" is supposed to convey value to me?
I thought I had forgotten CarFax's value proposition, so I Googled them: "Don't run the risk of buying a used car with costly hidden problems." Nope, looks like I remembered accurately. That sounds catastrophically against my interests.
How about this? "We automatically discover what you're great at by comparing you to other people who are great at it, and optionally introduce companies looking for great people to you. It's like having a resume which updates automatically and comprehensively matches all the buzzword bingo without you having to do any work you're not already doing."
Yeah, I admit, the carfax analogy is not the best one. We don't really use it anywhere on our site - mostly because it's not really accurate. Your wording is much better and truer to what we're building. Can I use it? :)
Please, use it or anything else that suggests you are not using Oceanian MiniPax/Google levels of insight into my activities to tell prospective employers that I spend too much time on HN.
Free idea for YC W12: RescueTime Introductions Manipulatr.ly
Extend he TrackMeNot to generate a fictitious browsing history modelled after the employee an HR department thinks it wants.
I predicted a long time ago that this is the direction the product would take.
It is an opt-in thing for now. But if they become really successful, it will become the norm that if you are not willing to share your browsing/app usage statistics with your potential employer you are automatically assumed to have something you wish to hide. Kind of like how absence of credit history puts you in the high-risk bin.
In fact, the opposite is true. Every single employer we talked to wanted their concerns address that they would be perceived as invading people's privacy by having them introduced through us. In the end, employers are recruiting you. If you're turned off by the way they're doing it, they lose.
We sincerely appreciate the feedback. You guys are a tough crowd, but I'd expect nothing less from HN readers. RescueTime users are our bread and butter and that likely will not change. We need our users to power any model that we setup. We appreciate the comments and feedback - keep it coming. Thanks for reading this far down - for more info go to www.rescuetime.com/intros or blog.rescuetime.com.
If you have any further questions do not hesitate to email me at jason [at] rescuetime [dot] com.
