Tony Perkins, owner of AlwaysOn, displays the kind of arrogance we would find irritating from a winner, but given Red Herring’s track record, it’s downright laughable. Maybe Henry (disclosure: a friend and client of mine) was wrong in his assessment of AlwaysOn, and Perkins was perfectly entitled to chime in, but his tone is simply not professional.
If you want to feed your personal information to a marketing database handled by that kind of guy, it’s your free choice (privacy notice: corporate sponsors are authorized to access your "phone number, work history and educational background" unless you opt out by e-mail.) In that context, before I’d brag too much about the number of registered users I’d have collected, I’d count the Mickey Mouses first.
Then, you can’t opt out of AO’s promotional emails, so they basically grant themselves the right to spam you: "AO reserves the right to send promotional materials in the future." Note that you’re not allowed to use the service to spam, so that privilege is theirs only.
Plus, simply "using the site" will make you agree with any revision they introduce to their privacy policy. That, and the moving pop-up (on every page!) taken right from the porn webmaster handbook. I think I’ll pass on the blog publication taken to the "next level" thank you (stupid nobody that I am.)
03/26/03 update: Tony Perkins apologized to Henry.
