Spock: People search + tagging = problem

Service: Spock

What it is: A search engine optimized to find information about people.

Failings: Cool technology notwithstanding, this service is a privacy and PR nightmare waiting to happen. It constructs profiles by aggregating information from other online sources. That may sound harmless, but the profiles can be tagged by any registered user, which raises the potential for very serious abuse. Although tags can be removed via a request to administrators, not everyone who gets an ugly tag will know it. The Internet has enormous power to hurt the innocent -- remember the "Facebook suicide" and the Wikipedia vandal who accused President John F. Kennedy's assistant of being a suspect in the assassination?

Strengths: There is a great deal of interest in people search and online profiles.

'Net Views:

AppScout: "Preliminary impressions of the people-search engine ranged from creepy to really creepy"

Dan Tynan, Wired: "It's certainly great lawsuit material."

Management: Co-founders and Wharton classmates Jaideep Singh and Jay Bhatti. Funding of $7 million from Clearstone Venture Partners and Opus Capital.

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