NaviStone's Code Unmasking Anonymous Website Visitors
| NaviStone's Code Unmasking Anonymous Website Visitors | |
|---|---|
| Short Title | NaviStone's Code Helps Companies Identify Previously Anonimous Website Visitors |
| Location | United States |
| Date | June 2017 |
| Solove Harm | Surveillance, Identification, Increased Accessibility |
| Information | Identifying, Contact, Location, Ownership, Transactional |
| Threat Actors | NaviStone, Websites that work with NaviStone |
| Individuals | |
| Affected | Individuals who visit a website that works with NaviStone |
| High Risk Groups | |
| Tangible Harms | Inconvenience, Loss of Trust, Changed Behavior |
Sites such as Quicken Loan, Road Scholar, JossandMain, Rockler.com, CollectionsEtc.com, etc use NaviStone's code which claims to be able to unmask anonymous website visitors and figure out their home addresses.
Description
Websites that work with NaviStone code are able to identify the user even when the user supposes to stay anonymous. The website will collect the information that the user types in the forms of the website regardless of whether the user has clicked "submit" or "send" in the end. Surveillance
This happens often with sites such as Quicken Loan, Road Scholar, JossandMain, Rockler.com, CollectionsEtc.com, offering mortgage calculation services, and thus requiring users to fill in the information about one's current home, as well as one's name, email address and phone number.
NaviStone is an Ohio based startup, that markets itself as a company that can help companies identify the previously anonymous website visitors and match them to their home addresses and postal names. Identification
A University of Washington law professor told media that giving users a “send” or “submit” button, but then sending the entered information regardless of whether the button is pressed or not, clearly violates a user’s expectation of what will happen. Calo said it could violate a federal law against unfair and deceptive practices, as well as laws against deceptive trade practices in California and Massachusetts.
Laws and Regulations
Sources
https://gizmodo.com/before-you-hit-submit-this-company-has-already-logge-1795906081