[zarathustraa]

> There really is no meaningful way to know that the data being put in is PII, or to regulate how the orgs that use it, do so. And even if we did put in any such safeguard

Since you advertise that your tech is suitable for lead sourcing, you obviously don't see anything wrong with mining and linking databases of PII information, as long as it's done by "the good guys".

[mindcrime]

Since you advertise that your tech is suitable for lead sourcing

We don't. The line you quoted above is from my LinkedIn profile where it's describing my responsibilities as founder of the company. So, of course, part of what I do is prospecting and identifying leads. All companies do that, I don't think anything we do falls into the "nefarious" range. We aren't using retargeting or buying user information from data mining companies, etc. Our prospecting basically starts and stops with Twitter and LinkedIn... Not exactly spook stuff.

And while I can respect that some people take things to such extremes that they can even find mundane things like advertising unethical; I'm pretty comfortable with my own sense of ethics and our attempt to do the right things. In either case, attempting to draw any parallel between us and Palantir is an exercise in absurdity. Notice that there's no HN top-page stories titled "Fogbeam Lab's Secret User Manual For Cops", etc. :-)

[zarathustraa]

I apologize for reading the linkedin line in the wrong key.

[mindcrime]

No worries. I understand where you're coming from. And believe me, I've spent a not inconsiderable amount of time thinking about these issues. I tend to look at raw technology as being "ethically neutral" but it does bother me that there doesn't seem to be any way to truly ensure that tech is only used for noble / beneficial ends. But I don't feel like I can let that stop me from working on tech in general... the only other alternative seems to be to turn Amish or something. And somehow I'm not quite comfortable with that.