BoingBoing has posted a tip about Spoke.com, a networking website being accused of uploading outlook contact info and selling it. Shame! BoingBoing’s tipster says:

To get access to Spoke’s “free” service, you must install the Spoke toolbar. The Spoke toolbar then copies all of the information from your address book into the Spoke database.
…
If, for example, I pressed the button for Spoke’s free service, the Spoke toolbar would install and then copy the roughly 2100 names, phone numbers, and email addresses out of my Outlook Contact database and then add them to Spoke’s database. Spoke would then be able to sell those names, titles, companies, addresses, and email addresses to direct marketing organizations.

It’s probably best to avoid Spoke.com.—MEGHANN MARCO

Spoke.com is selling your friends’ Outlook address books [BoingBoing]

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