Is logging into a service platform or app safe today? Given the trend, most of the applications misuse user’s personal data without permission. This information is generally used for commercialization. Undoubtedly, technology made our lives simpler, however, it has also made us vulnerable as we no longer have control over who has our personal info and how they are using it.
We all remember the continuous data breach incidents that happened with Facebook including the Cambridge Analytica incident; Facebook and Instagram users data was improperly accessed by a third party app login, Facebook knows all about you even after you logged out. This shook the user’s trust that decreased social networking websites’ popularity.
The same kind of thing happened with Unroll.Me when we got to know that the company is commercializing users’ data and selling it to Uber. Uber had used this confidential data to keep tabs on its ride-hailing rival Lyft which isn’t just acceptable.
What Is Unroll.Me
Unroll.Me is a free service platform from the Slice Intelligence that lets you unsubscribe easily from whatever emails you don’t want in your inbox. It instantly sees the list of all your subscription emails and helps you to filter out the subscription emails that you no longer need to be notified about.
Unroll.Me helps you declutter your inbox by unsubscribing unwanted emails and consolidating important but incessant emails into a daily digest. Currently, the service supports Gmail, Google Apps, Yahoo! Mail, AOL, and Outlook.com accounts. There are also apps available for iOS as well as Android mobile operating systems.
How Unroll.Me Commercialized Your Data
Selling data is a different thing that almost every organization does in current time; however, reading and disclosing email info isn’t a healthy thing to perform.
A data firm Slice Intelligence uses an email management program called Unroll.me. It scans people’s inboxes for information, and it has control over your inbox. It can scour your inboxes for receipts from services like Lyft and then sell the information to companies like Uber. Obviously, the individuals’ names aren’t attached to the data provided but it surely can be used as a proxy for the health of a rival. Uber has already been under the users’ radar for using questionable tactics to conquer the transportation industry. And, now this information has come out that made users’ angrier than ever.
The Statements From Unroll.Me Officials
Jojo Hedaya (co-founder and Chief executive officer) “Our users are the heart of our company and service,” he wrote. “So it was heartbreaking to see that some of our users were upset to learn about how we monetize our free service. And while we try our best to be open about our business model, recent customer feedback tells me we weren’t explicit enough.” He said that the data was aggregated and completely anonymous.
A spokeswoman for Slice said – Its data collection shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who knows the history to this app (or read the privacy statement). In 2014, Unroll.Me was acquired by shopping app Slice, which has a market research division that measures e-commerce from a panel of 4.7 million online shoppers. “Unroll.Me users are part of that panel — it’s really not a secret.”
“Unroll.Me was started as an e-mail decluttering tool.” “For a long time, the service was self-funded, and we tested several business models before we decided to build a monetization strategy on our data.”
The reactions from the users’ front are quite blunt, and it feels like they are right. They all have questions like, is Unroll.Me safe? Does Unroll.Me work fine? Is this service legitimate? Users have instantly stopped using the service and deleting their accounts from Unroll.Me. Some of them are using social media to express their outrage and the most common captions are “Deleting the account now. Unroll.Me lost all trust.”
What Should We Do Now?
Now since the issue is quite big, FTC has taken instant action and part of the action wants Unroll.Me to erase all saved user info. The company will need to be more open about how it accesses, collects, and sells any data it collects going forward.
Now we know that FTC has taken a big step and considering that Unroll.Me is going to remove the data from their servers, we believe you should take an additional step:
Please refer to the below steps to remove access if you’ve ever shared your Gmail account with Unroll.Me:
1. Delete Your Unroll.Me Account
A. Log in with your credentials on the Unroll.Me login page.
B. Click the “Hamburger” icon, and on your account name, click “Settings”
C. Scroll down, and click “Delete my account.”
The service will give you a pop-up asking “if you really want to delete your account and a reason for leaving” (that’s optional). Tap on “Delete My Account” and get out of the platform.
Though you have successfully deleted your account, technically Unroll.Me still have access to your Gmail inbox, so remove the access manually so that there won’t be any loophole:
A. Log in to your Gmail account registered with Unroll.Me and go to the “Security” feature.
B. Click “Manage third-party access” and scroll down until you see Unroll.me from the apps list.
C. Click to highlight, and then tap on “Remove Access”.
Following these above steps will stop Unroll.Me to get access to your info anymore. And the previously stored data will be removed from Unroll.Me servers as per instructions are given by FTC to the company.
We Are Listening
Do you also think of thinking twice before using any app/service platform? If you think the blog was useful and informative for you, share this with your friends and family. It might help them stop Unroll.Me to get access to personal info from their mail inbox if they have registered themselves on Unroll.Me.