I met up with a long-time friend in Los Angeles who told me about this new dating site called "Coffee Meets Bagel". An interesting enough name that got me hooked. However, as a marketer, after being on the site for less than an hour, I found that I couldn't unsubscribe nor delete my account. And, because I have so much fictitious info on Facebook, much of what is displayed on the CMB profile is inaccurate to say the least and there are aspects of the CMB profile that you can't edit, like your age. Apparently I have a bachelor's degree from the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, according to my CMB profile.
What caught my attention on their privacy page was this statement: "...we reserve the right to send you certain communications relating to Coffee Meets Bagel such as service announcements, security alerts, update notices, or other administrative messages) without affording you the opportunity to opt out of receiving such communications."
Oh really. Plenty of startups have burned on such flagrant disregard for privacy standards.
If I delete the smartphone app, would that in turn really delete all my info on their server; or would they continue to use my info to hook other people into the system?
From the app's web and iPhone interface, it doesn't look like I can delete my account at all. How to do this is not apparent. I had to look at the intro email and it's not terribly obvious. It's in the mice print section of the email where one normally unsubscribes. But, before you opt for permanent deactivation, be sure to unsubscribe yourself from everything you've been already subscribed to. Because heck, there isn't anything more annoying that receiving email from a deleted account.
One thing comes to mind when it asks for my mobile number as a means of tracking, I mean matching, my profile to a potential bagel: lead generation. Nothing nefarious here. But it has the makings of bait and switch written all over it.
