The BL-pocalypse Is Here

 

Image compliments of Mike Finn

With much regret, I have logged into Booklikes for the last time and managed to delete my account. I feel that it is no longer a safe site. It has never been a secure site, no https, but now it isn't even safe. As far as I am concerned, the owners have sounded the death knell in a deliberate move -- or else, they have been sold a bill of goods -- but the bottom-line is still the same: I no longer feel safe and I feel my privacy is in jeopardy.

 

So, what brings me to this conclusion? I had noticed over the past few days a new addition to the urls that flash across the navigation bar and/or the bottom of the window as a BL page works its way through refreshing a page or moving from Blog to Dashboard, etc. This morning, it got hung up on that step and I was able to capture the link and use the information contained in it to do some investigating. I am enraged by what have learned. 

   

The link is four lines long, so I've included only the start of the of the url: https://mandrillapp.com/track/click/3... The alarming words in this link are "track" and "click." My hackles are now raised and more information is needed. What is MandrillApp and is it reliable? I personally feel that most apps are just fancy dressing for illicit information gathering or worse, so just seeing the word 'app' makes me suspicious. This is what I learned on Google when searching for "MandrillApp":

 

Is Mandrillapp com safe?

mandrillapp.com. A Safer Browsing Experience. Everywhere, Anytime. This site is a source of spam and links using their service should be avoided.

Source: Is mandrillapp.com Safe? Community Reviews | WoT (Web of Trust)

 

For me, the magic words are: This site is a source of spam and links using their service should be avoided. If Booklikes is now in bed with a known spammer, I'm done. Booklikes is already a home for spammers; that is part of the reason that so many legitimate members have fled. But now it has gone a step too far and I don't feel safe using the website. 

In the end, this is the BL-pocalypse. Not the website losing its domain. Not the website ceasing to exist. Not the failures to connect or even the very, very slow connection we have been all facing. BUT alliance with a known purveyor of spam and a betrayal of trust.

Albrecht Durer