Startup Stealth Data Working To Uncover the Identities of Website Users

An anonymous reader writes: Data mining startup Stealth Data is working to help websites uncover the 'individual names, phone numbers, emails and physical addresses' of the users who visit websites. This information 'can include a website visitor's job title, employer, annual income, age, and personal and professional social media profiles' so that businesses can use this data for marketing purposes.Stealth Data's third co-founder Chad Sneed experienced marketing frustrations firsthand through his family's dealership, Dennis Sneed Ford in Gower, Missouri. Sneed, who's a vice president and partner, said the dealership spends a significant amount on marketing, from search engines to third-party advertising. A bulk of the dealership's website visitors were anonymous, however, which meant it couldn't follow-up with visitors to try and close a sale. Sneed wanted to unlock that information and started talking to the dealership's outside marketing firm, Phame Influence, to see if it was possible. Puckett, who co-founded Phame with Paris, also is a trial lawyer.

'My lawyer hat instantly says no,' Puckett said.

But after digging further, he discovered it's legal and that using the information for cold calling and emailing is fair game.

Co-founder Chad Sneed noted that he doesn't see any privacy issues.

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