Intelius: Difference between revisions
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===Consumer complaints=== |
===Consumer complaints=== |
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The Better Business Bureau of Alaska, Oregon, and Western Washington has catalogued numerous complaints about customer service, including a continual refusal to provide refunds to customers who claim not to have received the services they paid for. Additional complaints have been made about misleading advertising, and that background information provided by the company is inaccurate or has not been updated. According to the BBB, the company is not a member, and does not always respond when contacted by them.<ref name="Better Business Bureau">{{cite web|title=BBB Reliability Report for Intelius Inc|url=http://alaskaoregonwesternwashington.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=114&bbb=1296&firm=37004787|publisher=''[[Better Business Bureau]]''|accessdate=2008-11-30}}</ref> |
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==Awards== |
==Awards== |
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Revision as of 05:09, 10 December 2008
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | online data broker |
| Genre | electronic commerce |
| Founded | January 2003 |
| Founder | Naveen Jain, John Arnold, Edward Petersen, Kevin Marcus, Niraj Shah, Chandan Chauhan |
| Headquarters | Bellevue, Washington, United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Naveen Jain, CEO Bill Owens, Chairman Kevin Marcus, CTO Edward Petersen, Exec. VP of Sales and Marketing John Arnold, Exec. VP of Business Development Paul Cook, CFO Niraj Shah, Exec. VP of Engineering Chandan Chauhan, Senior VP of Product Marketing |
| Services | background checks, identity theft protection |
| Revenue | $55,000,000 (2006) |
Number of employees | 113 [1] |
| Website | http://www.intelius.com |
Intelius, Inc. is a public records business with headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, United States.[1] They provide information and offer services to consumers and businesses that includes background checks and identity theft protection.[2] The company began in 2003 and has origins in Microsoft,[3] and another Internet and information-based company called InfoSpace.[4] A majority of Intelius' revenue comes from selling background reports.[5][6]
History
In March 1996, former Microsoft executive Naveen Jain founded InfoSpace, an early online search engine and directory. From 1996-2002, he served as CEO of InfoSpace. Jain co-founded Intelius with co-worker Kevin Marcus.[7]
In late 2006, Intelius began advertising for an executive whose main responsibility would be relations with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Bloomberg. CFO Paul Cook told Bloomberg this was a step towards a possible Initial Public Offering. Cook also told Bloomberg that they were weighing the benefits of increased exposure and reputability against the costs of going public, which he estimated at about $1 million per quarter.[5] Intelius filed a registration statement on January 10, 2008 for an initial public offering to raise up to $143.75 million.[8]
Market
- Background checks for dating
Intelius targets marketing for consumers with an interest in dating, especially online dating. It provides background checks for potential relationships and verification of identity under the InteliSign branding.[6] Critics point out the advertising campaign's reliance on "scare tactics".[1][9]
- Employer background checks
On December 5, 2006, Intelius enlarged its employment screening market with its acquisition of Bothell, Washington's IntelliSense Corporation, integrating an infrastructure capable of international background information, fingerprinting, and drug screening, and complementing its previous capabilities for small and medium businesses.
Controversy
Cellular phone directory
In early 2008, Intelius came under scrutiny for providing access to private cellular phone numbers culled from a variety of sources, including pizza delivery companies.[10] In response, Verizon threatened a lawsuit over posting consumer phone numbers without consent. A few days later, on February 1, 2008, the cellular phone directory was taken down.[11]
Opt-out policy
There has been criticisms for the difficult nature of "opting out" of being listed on Intelius.[11] The firm's Web site states, "Intelius does not usually offer individuals the opportunity to permanently remove their publicly available information from our public records databases."[12] The site states, "as a courtesy," that personal information may be suppressed by a user's request, provided they mail or fax a notarized letter and a copy of their driver's license, in order to confirm the person's identity.[11]
Automatic enrollment
Consumer complaints
Awards
- 2006 Stevie Award for Best New Company [13]
References
- ^ a b c Nina Shapiro (2007). "Intelius Says it's Capable of Conducting a Full Background Check on Anyone". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ John Swartz (2007). "Who's guarding your data in the cybervault?". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Brier Dudley (2007). "Naveen Jain: Venture capitalists are "the antichrist"". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Sergio G. Non (1999). "Q&A: InfoSpace CEO Naveen Jain". CNET Networks. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b
Tim Mullaney (2006). "Intelius, Founded by InfoSpace's Jain, Considers Going Public". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Sara Kehaulani Goo (2007). "Dinner, Movie, Background Check for Online Daters". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
"Kevin Marcus Executive Profile". American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Julie Vorman (2008). "Intelius plans IPO of up to $143.75 mln - SEC filing". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^
Mandy Stadtmiller (2006). "Check Mate - More Women Paying To Investigate Dates". The New York Post. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Alex Johnson (2008). "Cell phone directory rings alarm bells". MSNBC. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c
Suzanne Choney (2008). "Company shuts down cell phone directory". MSNBC. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "How can I remove my information from the Intelius public records databases?". Intelius. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Tricia Duryee (2007). "Awards passed out to local companies". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)