Business Bytes
Mar 15, 2011

Creepy Happenings with Voyurl

 

Some people are very concerned about our privacy and rightly so.  They have strict privacy settings on their Facebook profile and are careful about not putting personal information on the internet that could make them susceptible to danger.  Many people have stopped posting vacation plans on their Facebook statuses because of the many robberies that have occurred.  And many people are demanding more privacy and keeping a close eye on Google and their slippery privacy policies.  It's often true that you can't be too careful.

And then there are those of us who throw privacy and caution to the wind.  Take Voyurl, a site where people voluntarily share what sites they visit in real time.  Voyurl posts what sites you are opening as it happens.  You can't see what people are doing on these web sites, just that they've opened them.  If you are a member of Voyurl, anyone can see your URL activity.  You can be labeled as anonymous if you so choose.  But here's the scary part:  you can easily guess who members are if they log onto their e-mail.  You can turn off Voyurl at any time and set filters.  Hopefully, Voyurl will realize that some URLs should not show up, such as e-mail or online banking.  People could use this service for malicious reasons, just like they are with Facebook statuses.

It's hard to believe someone really made this service, but even harder to believe that people voluntarily use it.  Voyurl's tag line is 'it's okay to look'.  I guess it is a fight against algorithms, but wouldn't joining StumbleUpon be a much easier and safer way to find new and interesting web sites?  Or you can also just pay attention to what people post on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.  Voyurl is too much exposure even for a trusting guy like me.

Curt Finch is the CEO of Journyx.  Spy on his company on Twitter.


Curt Finch has more than two decades of software development and distributed workforce management experience. In 1997, Curt created the world's first internet-based timesheet application and the foundation for the current Journyx product offering. Curt has a B.S. in Computer Science from Virginia Tech. His book, All Your Money, is available on Amazon. @curtfinch