Ask HN: How does Crunchbase get away with storing data without consent?

2 points

6 years ago

recently googled myself and found an entry of myself on Crunchbase. I never created an account so I asked them to delete the info (their reply below). How is it possible that they can store this info without consent. They say it's crowd-sourced but it looks like it's been scraped from LinkedIn (years ago). Is this legal?

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Hi <redacted>,

Thank you for contacting Crunchbase!

Please note, if you have an active trial or subscription we recommend that you cancel first before moving forward. Instructions on how to cancel your trial here. And instructions on how to cancel your subscription here. If you would like to download or permanently delete your user account information, please complete this form here. If you would like to delete your personal profile page, please complete this form here.

If you would like to deactivate your user account, please reply to this email to deactivate your account. You can contact [email protected] if you wish to reactivate your account at a later date.

Keep in mind, your user account is the private information that you can use to control your billing, login information, and alerts. A profile page is what displays externally on Crunchbase - these are completely separate. Because Crunchbase is a crowdsourced platform, any registered user can add or edit any profile page - profiles are not explicitly linked to any user.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions - we'll be happy to help!

Best,

Erika