Gary Wolf

September 15, 2008

The same ubiquitous traces that make it easier for us to track ourselves make it easier for other people to track us. So we always take an interest in stories of accidental self-exposure. Here, without too much comment, is a link to today’s notable incident. It comes from the world of GPS tracking; specifically, from a highly competitive business sector where, we gather, salespeople commonly pose as customers to gain knowledge of what their rivals are doing.
 
In this case, a sales guy from one company got a bit too aggressive, and his target took revenge. Using server records, IP searchers, a Plaxo and LinkedIn profile, and some archived Craigslist postings, the folks at GPS insight published a pretty embarrassing account.

Rob Donat, the President of GPS Insight, has done this sort of thing before. Last year he noticed a single order he described as “fishy,” and figured out that it was coming from Jim Duncan, President of NavTrak, another competitor. Donat posted the record of his investigation on his blog.

There is a lesson here that probably doesn’t need to be spelled out.