I’ve been watching the Blippy scandal unfold, but Steve has been pretty vigilant about pointing out why credit card related social networking might just be the worst idea ever when it comes to social media and sharing .
Almost comically, just like naysayers feared, we discovered last week that the credit cards of some Blippy users were searchable in Google . And the entire internet didn’t hold back with the “I told you so” posts. It was pretty obvious up front that the potential problems that could result from sharing your credit card transactions online outweighed the completely non-existent benefits. Does anyone really need to know you’re buying tampons on your lunch break or that your consumption of Ben & Jerry’s has skyrocketed since your boyfriend friended some random chick on Facebook?
To Blippy’s credit, they were pretty upfront about it in a blog posting about Blippygate. They start out by saying they are “very sorry” and go on to disclose exactly how the information wound up in Google search results. They outline a five step plan including hiring a Chief Security Officer to prevent future credit card leaks.
While Blippy is working to address the issues of security that surround their business model, it seems that current users might drift away and anyone who had thought about signing up might be wary now. And since we now know exactly why sharing your transactions with your internet acquaintances is a bad idea, does anyone plan on starting now? If you used Blippy, did you find any benefit, and do you see yourself continuing to use the service?
