My feedback

My observation

I have been contacted several times on my mobile phone for business canvassing, although my calls are usually filtered by my secretariat and few people have my business mobile number.

I find this strange and repetitive. One evening, around 6:45 pm, day finished but still at the office, I receive a call on my mobile. The number is displayed but unknown to me. I decided to respond and started a conversation with the interlocutor, who was looking to sell me software solutions that I didn’t need. He understands it quickly, but with sympathy in the voice, we joke together for a moment. Curious, I take the opportunity to ask him how he got my mobile number.

He explains to me that he subscribes to a platform called Kaspr, which provides a tool to complement the browser. This tool allows him to obtain the email address and phone number of the LinkedIn profile he is currently viewing.

I am thinking first of Casper, my childhood friend, but it is not him; the spelling is not the same.

I didn’t know Kaspr and I go to their website to see if he made fun of me or not.

I type Kaspr in Google and here is the result:

So he didn’t lie to me, this software does provide the email addresses and phone numbers of LinkedIn profiles?! But how is that possible?!

I was, of course, convinced that I had properly secured my profile; all sharing options are disabled and I have never authorised the distribution of my email address or business phone number. I'm a little upset, but I'm still exploring.

The promise is there, explained on their website, the numbers and emails are well displayed, in a small window of a browser add-on when you consult a LinkedIn profile.

As I am not yet out of school, I look at the headlines of testimonials from users who are banging on their stomachs:

I also read:

I don't know if it has the gift of worrying or reassuring me, I am one of 500 million! ?

I want to know what these 150 sources are? After all, LinkedIn may be the medium for the consultation, how do you know where the information comes from? LinkedIn or not??

I search, I search, it is well hidden, I find this:

So I can't determine if my data comes directly from LinkedIn or if a "premium" provider has resold my information.

Kaspr’s real strength lies in its ability to link my surname, first name, LinkedIn profile to other data they have retrieved elsewhere.

My article makes no judgment about anyone. It will give Kaspr as much visibility for some as it will raise data security awareness for others.

Can I ask for my information to be deleted?

I search, I search, everything switches to English, the pages I talk about from here are in English.

In one corner of the site, an ‘opt-out’ option and I find this form:

But I am not going to ask for deletion at this stage, I would like to try to understand where my data came from and to whom it was given. (according to GDPR)

Can I find out where my data is stored?

I search their site, and I find:

I think it’s pretty good, after that, from the moment they have my data, they will transit between France and the USA, probably they are even replicated, I don’t know too much about it.

Can I know what data the Kaspr site has in its possession?

Online, impossible to know, I have reviewed all the pages. The list of my rights is well listed but to find out more, I have to contact them, which I will do.

I contact Kaspr

I follow the procedure described, contact them at privacy@kaspr.io and ask them to send me all the information they hold about me, as well as their use of this data.

Kaspr's reply

From there, everything will be done in English, no francophone support.

Kaspr replied to me 15 calendar days after my request and sent me two emails:

• An email with an excel file containing my data, protected by a password
• A second email with the password.

I think it is quite a gadget, but why not?

I hasten to open the Excel file (with the famous password) and find … my LinkedIn data.

The story does not say where the data came from, it is the summary file of the information they have about me:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Linkedin_Url
• Data shared with
• Headline
• Company
• Rental
• Email-1
• Phone-1
• Job_Title-1
• Job_CompanyName-1
• Job_Location-1
• Job_Title-2
• Job_CompanyName-2
• Job_Location-2
• Job_Title-3
• Job_CompanyName-3
• Job_Location-3
• Job_Title-4
• Job_CompanyName-4
• Job_Location-4
• Job_Title - …
• Job_CompanyName-…
• Job_Location - …

Each of the jobs is carefully recorded on 3 recordings (columns)

What is interesting and which I had not put too much hope in is to get the column

• Data shared with

In this column, I have a list of the emails to which my contact details have been ‘sold’.

I am good at writing to all emails to assert my right to delete and oppose the transmission of my data. The list ends with ‘Cognism.com’, it is not an email address, it is a website.

And that's it, Cognism is Kaspr's little brother, I'm going to have to contact them as well.

I contacted Cognism, they are very responsive, they confirmed to me that they hold the data via Kasper and confirm to me that they have been deleted.

Let us return to Kasper’s reply to my request for the source of the data:

Kaspr replied: As you can see from the attached, we collect limited business data such as full name, company name and job title from publicly available online sources. You can find more information about Kaspr at the following link: https://kaspr.io/’. This is inaccurate since in the received file there is my email and my professional mobile number.

So I wouldn't know where my information was retrieved.

I request the deletion of my personal information

In their message, they offer me to ask myself for deletion via their form or by e-mail, head of pick, I ask them to delete it and to keep me informed.

D+12: I received a reply ‘We can confirm that your details will be removed from our database within the next 3-7 business days’.

In the meantime, I'm going to my LinkedIn to check everything

I dedicate an email to LinkedIn and I change my email

I make a little linkedin@mydomainname.xx and I will change the email. This new email is redirected to my usual email, if this email reappears one day in a database, I will know that LinkedIn is at fault. At this stage, I do not know, it can be a cross-checking of several databases.

I delete my phone number

After a multitude of messages explaining that I am asked for my number by security, that it is a good thing to have one and that I should not delete it, after having retyped my password, retrieved a code from the email, I finally manage to delete my phone number !!

I add a two-step identification

It doesn’t cost anything, I take advantage of it, it’s a bit off-topic, but I might as well have it to secure my account.

Who can see my email address?

Visibility: 

I traverse all configuration parameters

I did not notice anything in particular, I sometimes activated, sometimes deactivated LinkedIn options, everyone configured as they actually wanted.

My conclusion

As always, everyone is responsible for their own data and its use, and must bear the consequences.

Regarding LinkedIn, apart from past incidents of data leaks, there is no indication that they are selling our information. Microsoft’s takeover of LinkedIn inspires hope for better management and security, overseen by their best security experts.

It's always a good idea to regularly review privacy settings on platforms like LinkedIn, where our data is stored. These options are not always obvious, but they can limit the dissemination of our personal information.

As for companies like Kasper, Waalaxy or Cognism, their activity is legal and they have the right to operate. It is reasonable to assume that they are vigilant when acquiring databases, and we hope that they only collect legitimate data and respect the rights of the individuals concerned.