More from the mailbag this week – reader Eric asks about “mixtent”, a new-ish LinkedIn application.
I’ve done a bit of searching around on it, and I’m going to give a pass on this one, but I did feel compelled to login if only to specifically tell mixtent that I wanted to opt out.
It’s a little fuzzy, so you might want to read further…
The application
By way of introduction, mixtent allows individuals to “vote” on their connections.
Which connection would you rather accept a ride home from?
X – Vote for Fred! X – Vote for Frank!
And then calculates rankings of all users to show who is in the top percentiles.
Congratulations Steve – You’re in the 95% percentile of Swedish Chefs!
The details
In order to see your own rankings, you have to vote 25 times.
In order to see the rankings of your connections, it appears you have to vote some number of times about them as well. (Do you prefer Tina over Tricia as a Twitter-er? Do you prefer Tina over Traci as a Social Media Expert? …)
There’s a little grey here because while I joined to see what it was about, I didn’t actually vote on anyone and so it said I needed to vote 25 times to see John’s Executive skills, and only 3 times to see Mary’s.
And yes, I’ve used some corny preferences here – the site uses better skill labels, but not necessarily much better.
Joining
You login with your LinkedIn account, so it’s not like you’re registering for a completely new site.
By giving mixtent the ability to use your LinkedIn account (with its password), the application can access all of your LinkedIn data.
And here’s the rub – that includes data on other users – connection data. And since people have already given permission, the application now has the basic attributes of many users. Since I happen to know Eric, if someone is rating him, the system probably also knows about me.
This seems to be a “you’re in unless you tell us you want out” sort of site.
And that doesn’t make me happy.
The criticisms
If you’re thinking this is all very high-school-ish, I’m with you.
People might as well head over to Babe Vs Babe and just vote on the guys and gals they think are hottest…
I’m not alone in this opinion:
- John L on Digital Ministry isn’t fond of the system
- Dan P over on trainingwreck is definitely not a fan
- and the Social Media Academy also noticed the Privacy Policy…
So let’s consider some aspects.
Meaningless
I’m going to paraphrase one of John’s assertions – that the site is meaningless.
Just what does it mean if you’re in the 60th percentile of leadership – where other people would rather have A vs B lead a company? Do we know what size, industry, or location such a fictional company would have?
Of course not – mixtent simply shows the picture and headline from two people and asks “Which would you rather lead your next company?”
Later on when the rankings get built, mixtent is going to favor the ratings of the leaders, because if someone’s the most respected executive, their opinion counts more, right?
Unknowns
Dan points out the unknown factor. What happens when a user is asked to rate two individuals but doesn’t really know one of them? (I know you won’t find that kind of connection behavior encouraged on this site, but let’s just acknowledge that it does happen from time to time;-)
Or worse – what happens when mixtent somehow comes to the conclusion that Jim and Joe are both Angel Investors and asks me to rate which one is better. But I know neither of them is! So it is very possible that the system has less-than-useful ratings.
No Privacy
My first check into the system got me to the privacy page, but then when I read it, I got a bit confused – this is just the first paragraph:
Any information that you provide to Mixtent Inc is subject to our Privacy Policy, which governs our collection and use of your information. You understand that through your use of the Services you consent to the collection and use (as set forth in the Privacy Policy) of this information, including the transfer of this information to the United States and/or other countries for storage, processing and use by Mixtent Inc Properties. As part of providing you the Services, we may need to provide you with certain communications, such as service announcements and administrative messages. These communications are considered part of the Services and your account, which you may not be able to opt-out from receiving.
Oh – so since my data is covered by the privacy policy (because it says so right there), what does the privacy policy say about the use of my data? It was sort of like a self-reference – this was the privacy policy!
But it seems clear – the data is headed overseas for storage, processing, and use…
And later on there is a nice provision:
You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).
You agree that this license includes the right for Mixtent Inc Properties to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals who partner with Mixtent Inc Properties for the syndication, broadcast, distribution or publication of such Content on other media and services, subject to our terms and conditions for such Content use.
So not only does mixtent get a right to use the data wherever and however they’d like, they get to make this content available to any partner…
Oh – and as pointed out by the Social Media Academy – that first blurb indicated that you’ll get “certain communications” that you must not opt out of. (It was gratifying to read the Social Media Academy review – it matched my own about the complete lack of privacy over data given to mixtent)
Opting out
The one very easy thing I discovered: “opting out” was easily accomplished through a link on the bottom of each page.
So yes – I have opted out.
Since I don’t have access to the system (and shouldn’t be referenced by the system in any way), I can’t check.
And so, if you get into the system and see my profile – that would be a big no-no – and I’d like to know about it, so please do follow up with me.
Your mileage may vary
I don’t have a firm recommendation here.
One one hand, you can ignore the application, and I hate to give it any credibility by talking about it.
On the other, if people you know are using it, your name may come up – and you may not want to be compared to others…
To keep that from happening you would have to signin once to mixtent, and then click the “opt out” link. It might be possible to opt out without signing in, but then I don’t know how mixtent will know _who_ to opt out – which is why I suggest authenticating to LinkedIn (for one day) and then specifically opting out.
Me – I’m happy I won’t come up on the system.
And I guess I have backed into a recommendation – of opting out, and that perhaps, is a sad state of affairs.
To your continued success,
steve
—
Steven Tylock
http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetylock
Addendum
I don’t normally re-edit articles, but Tom asks where the “opt-out” is.
It was on the mixtent site. When I look now, I see that it has been removed from the home page of mixtent. This is what I (and Tom) are currently seeing:
But this is what it used to be – and still is on each of the other pages on mixtent: (About Us, Jobs, FAQ, Terms of Service, & Privacy pages)
And remember – to opt out of Mitxent, you probably have to agree to the service first, and then opt out, otherwise, I’m not sure it would know who to opt out.
(That would be like walking into a store and saying “Stop sending me fliers in the mail” and walking out – who would they stop sending fliers to?-)
Steve,
Thank you for your quick response on this one.
I will add one of my impressions: that when you first sign in it reads your profile, and in theory it only ranks you on items scanned there. So if I have not listed myself as a Swedish Chef, then it should not compare me to others in this category.
Has anyone else actually tried this? Thoughts?
My tendency is to opt out as well, though I have not done that yet. As a recruiter I have so much data to review, the last thing I need is one more application to take away a little more of my time. If it is refined and grows and becomes useful, then I may join. Basically I want to know if using it will save me more time than it uses…
Thanks again,
Eric
Eric,
I can confirm that in addition to general categories, some specific “skills” were pulled out of my profile.
A notable one was “System Administration” – as much of my career was with this job title.
My response – so what?
In what way is a skill that appears for reasons of completeness useful? (And why would I want people to rank me against others – we’re not in competition…)
Steve
I think this Mixtent is frankly outrageous! Some group of newly monied smartarses thinking about being the next internet billionaire off the back of the naive multitude.
I agree with all the critiques thus far, and would go further:
1. Being automatically opted in to something that takes your personal information contravenes the Data Protection Act in the UK. Their privacy policy wouldn’t stand up in a UK or European court, and looks like it has been written in someone’s bedroom.
2. An automatic link through to LinkedIn and the data therein is dangerous territory for LinkedIn, even though the founders are indeed now sell-out billionaires. More money to be sued for? There’s already a recommendation facility far more personal and specific on LinkedIn…why did they sanction this? Was it someone’s mate, son/daughter? Thoughtless. Careless. Literally.
3. Providing a poor reference for an individual can lead to (personal) litigation in the UK. Not sure about the US. Although supposedly anonymous, like Twitter they can and will be forced to reveal the identity of those who submit.
4. If someone has the time to rank their contacts on Mixtent it shows more about them than it does about those they are ranking! You have to think about the motivations…
I clearly hope that this nasty, ill conceived application will die a rapid death, but i am even more hopeful that it will do so in a blaze of litigation so that others see that you can’t get rich by riding roughshod over the masses.
Rick
PS. I won’t be opting out simply because I’m not opting in in the first place. For all I know I could end up spending hours every day opting out of things I’ve been automatically opted into without my knowledge. They can all bugger off.
Rick,
Thanks for the note – I expect Mixent will have to deal with the issues.
On 1 – technically, Mixtent is including the main individual because they came to the site and joined. The others are by reference. I’m not sure of the details in either the site or the European law, and agree that it could easily fall on the wrong side of the requirements.
On 2 – LinkedIn has historically been much more strict than others, to the point of being slammed for having an “open” 3rd party development process that didn’t have any 3rd party applications. Yes, there’s money involved, but relatives? Let’s reserve that slam until we have something to go on, ‘eh?
On 3 – The service does not provide references, “merely” comparisons. If Fred is in the 10th percentile, that information is damaging, but not a reference from any individual. (And Fred might consider opting out, or moving into a new line of work if that comparison is central to his career)
On 4 – Agreed. It’s kind of like what I say about viewing connections. If someone doesn’t trust their connections enough to reveal who else they connect to, just who are they connecting to?
I’m not specifically watching, but it sounds like you might be – if you see anything about the app and any issues, please let me know – I definitely want to followup if things change.
And I understand your position completely – if I didn’t need to use the system (at least minimally) to review it, I may not have joined either.
steve
So far, I’ve received two email notifications from people I know saying I have “votes in mixtent”, with no explanation of what this means. I’m supposed to be intrigued, & drawn in, & click on a link that will release my professional data to these “analysts”.
This strategy is not going to work; it’s too facebooky for one thing, & there are reasons to suppose that the sort of language & tone used by FB is inappropriate amongst industry professionals seeking to make professional contacts. linked-in by itself is perfectly adequate. but what I really disliked was the hijacking of the names of these colleagues as the supposed senders of emails worded “hi, you’ve received votes…”, which I know neither of them would do, & to which they have unmistakeably consented to only by not seeing the small print & opting out of this spamming.
Spamming-your-friends-by-default is the sign of a shitty little endeavour whose real aim is to harvest email addresses & personal data, for nefarious (marketing?) purposes. if the only way to stop this is to opt in, then opt out again, there’s either a legal loophole being exploited, or a law being broken.
dear linked-in, &/or mixtent, show yourselves HERE & explain this.
duncan
Duncan,
Thanks for the comment. Like Rick above, it seems you’re none-too-happy about this particular application.
It may be a stretch to believe that LinkedIn or Mixtent will answer here, but I’ll put up their response if/when it happens.
steve
Where do you see the opt-out message “on the bottom of each page”? On the linkedin pages? The Mixtent pages? I’m currently on both sites and I don’t see any such link.
Tom,
I see – they have pulled the opt-out link from the home page! I’ve gone into the article and added a blurb at the bottom with pictures of what you see and where the link is now.
Thanks for asking!
steve
Steve,
Surely this is a breach of privacy for LinkedIn to share LinkedIn network
Peter,
LinkedIn’s agreement with any one user is to keep that user’s information confidential. If that user decides to allow a third party to access it, then LinkedIn has approval.
Now – LinkedIn has to ensure that the third party is going to respect that information, but this case seems a very grey.
One would hope that both parties agree to participate in mixtent before that information goes public, but I don’t know enough about mixtent to guarantee that.
And that’s why I’m avoiding it.
steve