During the last few days, the cryptocommunity has been loud about InitiativeQ, the new, non-decentralized, non-blockchained payment platform by Saar Wilf. Social media has been filled with invites, that once clicked lead to a registration page, and there seems to be two important questions: (a) is this a scam (speculative cryptocurrency allotment method); and (b) why would they be giving away so much monopoly notes? While I can't answer the first question, I can use my super-lawyer powers to answer the second.
I'll start with what actually happens when you click on a link from a social media account with an invitation: InitiativeQ receives two pieces of information. The first is your identity, meaning your name and email address. The second is that they know who is "related" to you, meaning who invited you. If you opt-in to use another registration method, such as Facebook or Google, they may also receive some public information like your profile photo and Facebook's unique identifier.
What are they planning to do with this personal data? well, that's why I read their privacy policy. Now, the privacy policy is quite basic, and is not something that should be complicated to read and comprehend. In this case, it is quite straightforward: "When you register, we collect Personal Data provided by you, such as your name and email address. We collect Personal Data regarding who invited whom to register for our Site"; now, how is this information used? "to contact you with informational newsletters and updates relating to our Site and services; ... to review the usage and operations of our Site and services; ... to use your data in an aggregated, non-specific format for analytical purposes".
Meaning, InitiativeQ will have a compiled list of trend-setters, and who follows their trends. Why is that? because you only have a limited time window to push others into registering to the site. This means that InitiativeQ measures how much people received your link, how many clicked it, out of these numbers, they know who has a good community outreach; meaning, who is a connector, if using Malcolm Gladwell's terms according to The Tipping Point. This means that they know who has a lot of social ties and the ability to market trends and products better.
How could this information be used? Well, it could be used, according to the privacy policy, as statistical data. "Statistical Data helps understand trends and customer-needs so that new products and services can be considered and so existing products and services can be tailored to customer desires"; now, this is unidentifiable information, but still, information that could be used. We can identify who are the power users and reward them for sending more invitations. You can also find out how specific users share, and which texts which are attached to invitations work better.
Data could also be sent to business partners, according to the privacy policy. Meaning that "We may disclose data, including Personal Data we collect from and/or about you, to our trusted service providers, business partners, affiliates, subcontractors, who may use such data to: (1) help us provide you with the Site and/or services; and (2) aid in their understanding of how users are using our Site and/or services". This means that if, for example, a part of the payment network service that is being set up includes a new "trust" mechanism to add scoring for each users, then the information gathered by InitiativeQ could be shared with that scoring company.
Now, there are no free dinners on the internet, nor are there free dinners anywhere else. The deal is simple: when you provide someone with access to your personal data, and when you agree for such data to be used, expect it to be used. InitiativeQ is not a non-profit. They are working for their shareholders and they are not giving away free money. They are transacting in a simple deal: you get magic beans in return for a list of your friends, and their friends, and their friends.