Intelius
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (August 2009) |
| 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 started Intelius.
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.[5]
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][6]
- 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.[7] In response, Verizon threatened a lawsuit over posting consumer phone numbers without consent.[8] A few days later, on February 1, 2008, the cellular phone directory was taken down.[9][10][11]
Post-Transaction Marketing
Washington State Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau received over 900 complaints about Intelius as of March 2009 according to the Seattle Weekly website. Most involved the practice of "Post-Transaction Marketing." Partly because of concerns about Intelius, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna requested legislation this session aimed at stopping what he calls "deceptive" Internet marketing. [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) - ^ Julie Vorman (2008). "Intelius plans IPO of up to $143.75 mln - SEC filing". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
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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) - ^ "Verizon Wireless Calls For Halt To Data Mining Of Wireless Phone Numbers". Verizon. 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
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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) - ^ Svensson, Peter (2/4/2008). "Cell-phone directory assistance closing". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Intelius Shuts Down Controversial Cell Phone Directory". realtechnews. February 2nd, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Intelius and the Dubious Art of "Post-Transaction Marketing"". Seattle Weekly. March 17th, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
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