What Stays in Vegas (42 page)

11
. The company has since changed its slogan to “Search People. Reunite.”

12
. A Spokeo official agreed some weeks later to speak by telephone.

13
. He did finally respond by email more than a year later during the final fact checking for this book.

14
. Adler left the position in 2013 to become vice president of products at Metanautix, a big data startup.

15
. See
www.peoplefinders.com/about/leadership
.

Chapter 6: Dossiers on (Virtually) Everyone

1
. Buffett's and Munger's answers are quoted in Whitney Tilson's 2007 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Notes, May 5, 2007, at
www.tilsonfunds.com/Berkshire_Hathaway_07_annual%20meeting_notes.pdf
. These notes correspond with Monahan's recollection as well.

2
. As the company has grown and industry prices have fallen, they now pay far less for the data, in the neighborhood of 12 to 20 cents per cell phone lookup, Matthew says.

3
. Intelius S-1 filing to Securities and Exchange Commission, October 19, 2009. In the end, Intelius canceled the initial public offering, so it did not announce financial results in subsequent years.

4
. See
http://corp.intelius.com/intelius-facts
.

5
. In its IPO filing, Intelius wrote that “total advertising expenses were approximately $30.3 million, $39.9 million and $58.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively.” Their total
expenses in those years were $47.7 million, $71.6 million, and $102.5 million.

6
. “One wrong turn and you're enrolled in a membership program that costs you $20 or more each month. And you'll never know until you scrutinize your credit card bill,” then Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna said of Intelius. See
www.atg.wa.gov/uploadedFiles/Home/News/Press_Releases/2010/InteliusConsentDecree2010-08-10.pdf
. Consent decree at
http://is.gd/RTRXvx
.

7
. “State General Fund Benefits from Intelius' Bad Business Practice,” Washington State Office of the Attorney General, press release, February 2, 2011, at
www.atg.wa.gov/pressrelease.aspx?&id=27274
.

8
. Author interview, March 13, 2014.

9
. Of the 2.1 million firms about which the Council of Better Business Bureaus has current ratings and information as of mid-March 2014, 62 percent have an A+, according to statistics provided by Katherine Hutt, director of communications for the Council of Better Business Bureaus, on March 17, 2014.

10
.
Thomas Dreiling v. Naveen Jain and Anuradha Jain and Info-Space
, US District Court, Western District of Washington at Seattle, August 22, 2003, ruling at
www.symslaw.com/infospace/order_on_summary_judgment_082203.pdf
.

11
.
Thomas Dreiling v. America Online; InfoSpace
, US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, August 19, 2009, ruling at
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/08/19/08-35095.pdf
.

12
. Jain stresses that this cofounder was dismissed immediately after the company learned of the case. Email to author, March 13, 2014.

13
. Author interview with Spokeo chief strategist Emanuel Pleitez, November 29, 2012.

14
. See
www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/06/spokeo.shtm
. In 2014, Spokeo suffered another setback when the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a man who had trouble finding a job can sue the company for publishing inaccurate information about him even if he cannot prove actual harm.
Thomas Robins v. Spokeo Inc
., US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, February 4, 2014.

15
. See
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/08/17/MyLife%20complaint.pdf
. See also Section 4,
www.mylife.com/privacy-policy
.

16
. “It was settled, aided by the facts we shared with plaintiffs,” Tinsley said. “
MyLife.com
(formerly
Reunion.com
), has been in business for more than 12 years. We pride ourselves on providing valuable services to our customers, and work hard to maintain an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.” Email to author, March 12, 2014. The company declined to disclose the settlement details.

17
. Details at
www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2012/lr22536.htm
.

18
. See SEC announcement, at
www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2013/lr22629.htm
.

19
. See
www.peoplesmart.com/about
.

20
. Figure provided by Courtney Hill, a computer systems administrator in the Clark County Recorder's office.

21
. See
www.corelogic.com/about-us/news/corelogic-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2013-financial-results.aspx
.

22
. See
www.lssidata.com/data-sets/wireless-data.html
.

23
. See
www.lssidata.com/data-sets/landline-plus.html
.

24
. See
www.lssidata.com/why-lssidata.html
. A CLEC is a competitive local exchange carrier.

25
. See
peoplesmart.pissedconsumer.com/our-private-information-their-so-called-public-information-20110207220356.html
.

26
. Inflection sets out its easy-to-understand privacy policies at
http://inflection.com/privacy
.

27
. Pop-up screen as accessed on the site March 25, 2014.

28
. See
www.instantcheckmate.com/features/
, accessed March 25, 2014.

29
. The founder of Intelius, Naveen Jain, said his company, which operates a series of people search sites, remains the industry's biggest player overall, with twenty-eight million unique visitors in January 2014. Email to author, March 13, 2014.

30
. Number of searches as given on March 25, 2014.

31
. “
InstantCheckmate.com
Offers a Tool That Could Help Protect Your Child's Safety,” Marketwire news release, April 5, 2011, at
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/InstantCheckmatecom-Offers-a-iw-2840624434.html
.

32
. Company blog post, December 13, 2012, at
http://blog.instantcheckmate.com/5-people-to-run-a-criminal-background-check-on/
.

33
. Email from Kibak to the author, October 16, 2013.

34
. See
http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/registry
.

35
. Email from Kibak to the author, March 24, 2014.

36
. See
www.instantcheckmate.com/about/
.

37
. “
BreederRetriever.com
Goes Live: Disgruntled Investment Banker and Internet Guru Team Up to Launch Ambitious New Website,” October 24, 2006, at
www.prweb.com/releases/entrepreneur/breederretriever/prweb454675.htm
.

38
. See
http://blog.instantcheckmate.com/need-to-give-away-your-pet-make-sure-it-goes-to-a-good-home-with-instant-checkmate/
.

39
. See
http://blog.instantcheckmate.com/instant-checkmate-why-you-should-run-a-background-check-on-yourself/
.

40
. See
http://blog.instantcheckmate.com/this-what-work-fridge-supposed-look-like/
.

41
. According to a tweet from Kibak,
thecontrolgroup.com
went online in May 2013.

42
. Email from Kibak to the author, October 16, 2013.

43
. See
http://is.gd/yu422S
and
http://is.gd/diO7YA
, whose conditions include in all caps: “PLEASE NOTE: ALL AD-COPIES/CREATIVES AND LANDING PAGES MUST BE APPROVED. . . . ONLY AFTER YOUR AD COPIES/CREATIVES ARE APPROVED WILL YOU BE ALLOWED TO RUN THIS OFFER.”

44
. See
www.peerflyoffers.com/offer.php?id=6598
. That campaign said Instant Checkmate would absolutely not allow “unapproved/false/deceptive subject lines” in the promotional emails.

45
. See
www.neverblueescape.com/
.

46
. “All-expenses Paid Trip to Croatia for Publishers in Performance Marketing,” PRWEB release, February 5, 2014, at
www.prweb.com/releases/2014/02/prweb11549124.htm
.

47
. Email from Kibak to the author, March 24, 2014.

48
. Ibid., October 16, 2013.

49
. AdWords are Google ads that appear on Google's search pages. AdSense delivers ads for searches on other firms' websites such as
About.com
. For simplicity here I am describing both as Google ads.

50
. In 2013 the company was expanding its vision, with Kibak and a partner leading the Control Group, “the company who developed the
popular website, Instant Checkmate.” It called itself “a San Diego–based startup that specializes in large-scale data aggregation, marketing, and design.” See “The Control Group, Developer for Instant Checkmate, Expands Professional Development Program,” press release, July 23, 2013.

51
. See
www.thecontrolgroup.com/drafternoon-recap-revealing-the-new-office/
.

52
. Lowrey email to the author, October 9, 2012.

53
. Email from Kibak to the author, October 16, 2013.

54
.
Meagan Simmons v. Instant Checkmate,
filed February 25, 2014, in Hillsborough County, Florida.

55
. Email from Kibak to the author, March 24, 2014.

56
. See press releases at
http://is.gd/wCBtNV
.

57
. Complaint at
http://is.gd/j51e6J
.

58
. Company statement emailed to author April 9, 2014.

Chapter 7: Direct Marketing

1
. For an example of these categories, see
www.aslmarketing.com/list_high_school_students.php
.

2
. See
www.aslmarketing.com/list_high_school_students.php
.

3
. Figures provided by Joshua Kanter as of March 2014.

4
. MGM Resorts statistic from Adam Bravo, MGM's director of campaign operations, March 17, 2014, email to author.

5
. Bravo made the comment at the 2012 annual Direct Marketing Association conference.

6
. I sent this quote to American Express for reaction. Marina Hoffmann Norville, the company's vice president for corporate, financial and risk public relations, declined to comment in an email dated January 18, 2013.

7
. Boris Emmet and John E. Jeuck,
Catalogues and Counters
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1950), 2–3.

8
. Details drawn from an article in
Printers' Ink: A Journal for Advertisers
, November 25, 1903, 3. “To get all the telephone directories in a given state and copy the names seems like a simple proceeding,” said company president J. N. P. Cramer. “You would naturally suppose that the advertiser who wanted to reach these people could do that himself.” However, he went on to say that gathering all the phone books from smaller communities in places such as Ohio and New York was difficult, so his
company provided a valuable service to marketers. Phone directories have remained an important source of personal data ever since.

9
. The company reported worldwide revenue of $1.38 billion in 2013, up 39 percent from $996 million in 2012.

10
. Epsilon letter to Congressional Bipartisan Privacy Caucus, then headed by Ed Markey and Joe Barton, August 14, 2012.

11
. See
www.epsilon.com/about-us
.

12
. Details about Acxiom's reach come from a company letter to Congressman Edward Markey, August 15, 2012.

13
. Presentation to Direct Marketing Association panel in Las Vegas, October 14, 2012. In 2013 Suther left Acxiom after eight years to become a managing director at JPMorgan Chase.

14
. Author interview, November 8, 2012.

15
. Ibid.

16
. See the 2013 UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic at
www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/documents/epidemiology/2013/gr2013/UNAIDS_Global_Report_2013_en.pdf
.

17
. Mike McIntire, “Clinton Backer's Ties to Powerful Cut Both Ways,”
New York Times,
July 14, 2007.

18
. See
everestcpi.com/entrepreneurs.html
.

19
. Details from the SEC complaint at
www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2010/comp21451-gupta.pdf
.

20
. Ibid.

21
. “SEC Charges Former Executives in Illegal Scheme to Enrich CEO With Perks,” SEC press release, March 15, 2010.

22
. “Gupta agreed to pay disgorgement of $4,045,000, prejudgment interest of $1,145,400, and a penalty of $2,240,700,” according to an SEC statement on March 15, 2010, at
www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-39.htm
. Gupta did not want to discuss this episode in his life when we met or when we later spoke on the phone and exchanged emails.