Blippy – Share Your Purchases In Real Time With The World

Monday, February 8th, 2010 (No comments yet)

A completely horrifying service that some people have actually signed up for.

When you first hear about Blippy, the purchase-sharing website, you would think that no one in the whole world would be crazy enough to sign up. You’d be wrong.

Blippy is a service where you can share your purchases on most of the major web stores in real time (similar to Twitter). ALF just got a movie at Netflix (Full Metal Jacket… classic!). Jessestay just bought something at iTunes for 2.99 ( Epitaph One, by Dollhouse). On and on the purchases go. As they scroll by, I learn more about where the people live, what kinds of things they like, and what kinds of secrets they have. One user just purchased an iPhone app to find, let’s say, non-traditional bars in his city.

Believe it or not, the complete transparency of your purchasing habits is the least of your worries on Blippy. This site, supposedly run by four average sounding college graduates, promises good security and protection of your information, but history shows that even major banks and government agencies are hard pressed to keep data safe. Especially if they’re a big target!

So what makes Blippy a big target? Well, you may have heard my advice not too long ago to never give away your e-mail address password to these new sites like Facebook and Twitter that use your address book to add friends automatically. Blippy does the same thing, but for your web stores AND your bank accounts too!

In case you missed it, let me say it again more clearly: Blippy gets their information of your purchases by logging into your iTunes, Netflix, or eBay accounts and constantly monitoring them for new purchases. And not just web stores, but banks and credit cards too. Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, Paypal, and American Express are just some of the ones they’re set up for currently. All you have to do is provide all your usernames and passwords for each service you want to share your purchases for with Blippy.

You don’t have to be a privacy nut like me to find that prospect completely horrifying.