The Creepy Company Compiling a File on Your Online
Activity—Using Your Real Name  San Francisco-based "tracking
company" RapLeaf probably has an "extraordinarily intimate"
dossier about you—one that potentially includes your income
range, your politics, and your "interests" in topics like "adult
entertainment." And it might all be under your real name.
According to The Wall Street Journal, RapLeaf, which started as
a "trust meter" intended to allow people to rate each other's
trustworthiness—not unlike Ebay's seller ratings—is now one of
the most "sophisticated players" in the world of online tracking
companies, which compile and sell information about internet
users to advertisers. And by "sophisticated," of course, we mean
"creepy."  Why? Well, we've had our eyes on RapLeaf for a while.
Where most tracking companies keep their files anonymous—that
is, they know where you go online, but not who you are,
specifically—RapLeaf knows your name. And it's using it to
cross-reference everything from voter-registra