Maybe I can just say that they don’t ‘collect’ data but are able to build your full profile (with lots of information including address, work, etc.) from what they find on the net by clicking on a button.

It would be useful to discuss here what can be done in order to protect oneself. Why don’t you write a little bit more about that mysterious company (or business idea9?

What do they want? How large is their datacollection so far?

My simple philosophy in life is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I don’t put any information online, even in a closed environment, that I don’t want to share, or where I at least feel sure that it is ensured, e.g. online banking.

Usually, it’s people that don’t know an environment well that make mistakes (e.g. a 5 year old running across the street) and the most important thing you can do is not lock this person in with more “secure” services, but educate them on what they need to know. I do think there is a gap in the market, I get called everyday by one, it’s called my anti-technical parents, who do get viruses, spam, etc.

I obviously knew, as a blogger, twiterred, flickerer, U[Lik]er, etc. that all this information about me was available.

I just never happened to come accross the idea that such information could be gathered, stored in a database, and accessed by people with not necessary the best intentions.

Say I twitt that I’m abroad and these people know my address thanks to WhoIs…Understand the idea?

That’s scary.

Maybe you’ve been too much involved in those stuff – thru your studies, your job, your passions – for you to realize it ?

Now, take it as a lesson, and the next time you go twittering, tell something false : it’s a game, Buddy

I had almost the same situation a few months ago: I was doing a presentation on innovation at eBay, demoing all the great communication tools I use to operational people and management team. They found that very cool, and the day after a great number of them was joking about knowing what I was doing every hour via Twitter. It wasn’t at all prejudicial, except that I realized that some people I didn’t really know at eBay could now judge me on other criteria than the ones I was showing at work. And the image we are building of ourselves in a professional environment can be quite different from the one we are displaying online in our daily life, on Twitter in particular. And it’s precisely this gap that can be prejudicial and that we have to manage.

- you have blogged for over a year with around 400 posts

- you are on linkedin with all your details and contacts in public

- same with facebook

- you are on u-lik with everyone able to see your taste

- etc. etc.

This publicness is a. self-inflicted and b. just part of the reality we all have to deal with. The thing is, we all know this from the start. When we blog, we don’t disclose financial or other sensitive information. When we add stuff to linkedin, we do so because we want to disclose it. Etc. etc.

So what is the answer? Rip the internet-cable out, stop blogging? No, just be as careful about what information you want to put on the web about yourself as before.