| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24] > | Illegal use of data from ProZ.com profile Thread poster: RoxanaTrad (X)
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and my full first name (not visible publicly on ProZ.com) is displayed.
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo wrote:
I couldn't find myself on the site at first, but googling on my surname and outsourcingroom did the trick.
Thanks for the tip Madeleine.
Mira
| | | | | Better security needed | Jul 19, 2009 |
A friend of mine who is an IT specialist explained to me that these – how should I call them? – service providers (sic!) create personalized software for this kind of purpose. In other words, they have studied Proz profiles (and security breaches) and created special software, with a fixed pattern, aimed at extracting basic information from our profiles. They let the software work at nights, sometimes it could block – that could explain the fact that some of us are there, and some aren’t... See more A friend of mine who is an IT specialist explained to me that these – how should I call them? – service providers (sic!) create personalized software for this kind of purpose. In other words, they have studied Proz profiles (and security breaches) and created special software, with a fixed pattern, aimed at extracting basic information from our profiles. They let the software work at nights, sometimes it could block – that could explain the fact that some of us are there, and some aren’t; or they could have it programmed to extract information randomly. In any case, the fact that for some of us this software has found information that is not visible on our profiles (in eg., information visible only in old profiles or Skype IDs) could be a sign of lack of security of Proz, for the software could have accessed information in data exchange format, such as .csv.
In my opinion, for us and for Proz, it is important HOW they did that – so that developers fix the breaches, and also if legal action could be taken against them and if it’s worth the trouble.
Not that I would want to take someone's side, but I think that nowadays, there is no such thing as perfect security. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Former ProZ users are not safe either! | Jul 19, 2009 |
I received a very interesting note in the comments to a blog post I made regarding this issue. I'll quote it here:
I took the opportunity to look up my data on this site, and lo and behold - even though I left Proz.com almost two years ago, I am in their database!!!! What I found definitely points to Proz.com's system. It even shows my login name that I only used on Proz.com, preceded by 'xxx', which means that they got hold of the data after I've left Proz. Very disturbing!
I think this definitely calls for some explanations from "on high".
(Edited to fix a typo)
[Edited at 2009-07-19 15:45 GMT]
| | | | | US data protection legislation? | Jul 19, 2009 |
Kevin Lossner wrote:
I received a very interesting note in the comments to a blog post I made regarding this issue. I'll quote it here:
I took the opportunity to look up my data on this site, and lo and behold - even though I left Proz.com almost two years ago, I am in their database!!!! What I found definitely points to Proz.com's system. It even shows my login name that I only used on Proz.com, preceded by 'xxx', which means that they got hold of the data after I've left Proz. Very disturbing!
Here' what I just posted on Kevin's blog:
"Hmm - I don't know about the US data protection regulation, but I recently had to take an "exam" on UK data protection law (should be similar in most of EU) and something I clearly remember is that you can only hold data as long as it's relevant to your business operations in relation to that person.
That Proz hasn't deleted Sonja's data after almost 2 years seems like a clear breach of these rules (assuming regulation is similar in the US)."
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Same here -- not a good weekend!
| | | | | I am afraid you will have to cancel your ProZ membership... | Jul 19, 2009 |
Giuliana Buscaglione wrote:
I do not wish to be identified with virtual places I consider highly unprofessional or fashionable for all and any Internet surfer.
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X) 
France
Local time: 11:27
French to German
+ ...
| Contact the ICPD | Jul 19, 2009 |
Colleagues having experienced the same problems on another site and with another phoney/fishy/etc. translators' database apparently had some success in having their data removed completely.
What they did was sending a documented complaint to the "right place" through this URL:
http://www.interpol.int/public/mail/mail3.asp?id=info
FWIW
Laurent K.
[Edited at 2009-07-19 17:11 GMT]
| | | | Ines Burrell
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:27
Member (2004)
English to Latvian
+ ...
| What to do if your profile is there? | Jul 19, 2009 |
How many of guys have asked the site to remove your "profiles"? I finally managed to find mine although it did not come up immediately, however I do not fancy giving this site my email address which is required in order to get in touch with them. God only knows what they would do with that.
Ines
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ViktoriaG wrote:
I am afraid you will have to cancel your ProZ membership...
 the very moment I realize that I'll do more than cancel my membership - I'll delete my profile altogether.
Giuliana
| | | | | of course not, use anything non-existent | Jul 19, 2009 |
Hi Ines,
Burrell wrote:
.............. however I do not fancy giving this site my email address which is required in order to get in touch with them. God only knows what they would do with that.
right, that's why I used some sci-fi [email protected] address, didn't care about their improbable reply (I had my reasons for asking for the removal of my data, definitely beyond & far from the removal, on which I am simply not counting)
Giuliana
| | | | Ines Burrell
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:27
Member (2004)
English to Latvian
+ ...
| Thanks Giuliana! | Jul 19, 2009 |
I must be unfashionably honest, it did not even cross my mind to use an imaginary address! Their inbox must be heaving under the weight of all the mail, including mine sent from [email protected]. Thanks a lot!
Ines
[Edited at 2009-07-19 17:30 GMT]
[Edited at 2009-07-19 17:41 GMT]
| | | | | Not going to make much difference | Jul 19, 2009 |
Giuliana Buscaglione wrote:
the very moment I realize that I'll do more than cancel my membership - I'll delete my profile altogether.
Giuliana
Unless you've got access to Proz's databases and can delete your profile there...
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I checked mine and appeared under a profile I once started to use on this site and scrapped for a variety of personal reasons... but not under this one. And there are those who wonder why some of us use "nicks"?
| | | | Jalapeno
Local time: 11:27
English to German
I find it absolutely unbelievable that Proz hasn't yet reacted to this. This thing has been going on for days now. Weekend or not, Proz is surely aware of this issue. Even a brief statement like "we're looking into it" would be better than simply ignoring not only the issue but also the growing number of paying (and non-paying, like me) members of the site who are concerned.
| | | | | wasn't replying to the copying of data issue... | Jul 19, 2009 |
Hi Madeleine,
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo wrote:
Unless you've got access to Proz's databases and can delete your profile there...
that was re. unprofessional sites, not "data safety".
Giuliana
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