Unroll.me CEO Jojo Hedaya Apologizes For Company Collecting, Selling User Data

Unroll.me, a service designed to help users unsubscribe from newsletters and emails from subscription services, has been selling user data to the very companies from which it helps users unsubscribe.

The revelation about Unroll.me’s data practices came thanks to a New York Times article about Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in which it was revealed the ride-hailing app bought data from Unroll.me that provided insight into growth at rival Lyft.

Read: Internet Web Browsing Privacy: AT&T, Comcast, Verizon Promise Not To Sell Customer Data

The sale of data from Unroll.me began in 2014 when the service was acquired by shopping app Slice. The New York Times reported Slice collected emailed Lyft receipts from customers and sold the anonymized data to Uber. Slice confirmed to the New York TImes it sells data from ride receipts from both Uber and Lyft but wouldn’t disclose who bought the information.

Founded in 2011, Unroll.me’s primary purpose is to help users unsubscribe from mailing lists, newsletters and other services that may flood their inbox. To perform this task, the app requires permission from the user to scan emails for unsubscribe links. It also requires access to a user’s contacts.

Now it’s clear that access isn’t simply necessary for unsubscribing from mailing lists and cleaning up a person’s inbox. It’s also how Unroll.me gathers user information it sells to third-parties.

Unroll.me CEO and co-founder Jojo Hedaya took to his company’s blog Sunday to apologize to users who felt betrayed by the service’s collection and sale of their information.

“It was heartbreaking to see that some of our users were upset to learn about how we monetize our free service,” he wrote. “And while we try our best to be open about our business model, recent customer feedback tells me we weren’t explicit enough.”

Read: GameStop Investigating Possible Customer Data Hack

Hedaya promised to make it clearer to users exactly what Unroll.me does with their data, including adding new messaging to the website and app, and a disclaimer about data usage when users sign up for the service.

“I can't stress enough the importance of your privacy. We never, ever release personal data about you. All data is completely anonymous and related to purchases only,” Hedaya said.

How To Delete Unroll.me

For those who want to unsubscribe from the subscription-killing service, this can be done by logging into Unroll.me, clicking the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner, clicking on “Settings” and clicking “Delete my account.”