Intelius
| 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] A majority of Intelius' revenue comes from selling background reports.[3][4]
History
In March 1996, former Microsoft executive Naveen Jain founded InfoSpace, an early online search engine and directory, where he served as CEO. In December 2002, Naveen Jain was removed as CEO by the board of directors, after which he started Intelius with co-worker Kevin Marcus.[5][6] Jain was then sued by InfoSpace for allegedly violating noncompete agreements, mishandling business-specific secrets and interfering with InfoSpace's customer relationships.[7] The judge ruled in favor of Jain, citing a lack of "clear and convincing evidence" that there was a violation of noncompete agreements. [8]
In late 2006, Chief Financial Officer Paul Cook suggested that the company was considering an Initial Public Offering. Intelius filed a registration statement on January 10, 2008 for an initial public offering to raise up to $143.75 million.[9]
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.[4] Industry experts point out the advertising campaign's reliance on "scare tactics".[1][10]
- 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.[citation needed]
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.[11] 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.[12]
Opt-out policy
There has been criticisms for the difficult nature of "opting out" of being listed on Intelius.[12] 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."[13] 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.[12]
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.
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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) - ^ David Heath and Sharon Pian Chan (2005). "Dot-con job: How InfoSpace took its investors for a ride Part 2 - Cashing Out". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Sharon Pian Chan (2003). "Judge denies bid to bar Jain from work at InfoSpace rival". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ John Cook (2003). "InfoSpace founder wins round". Seattle PI. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
{{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.
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