Crossing the line in competitive intelligence
I’ve written about the topic of ethics in competitive intelligence before. While I didn’t expect it to get much traction, I’ve had more readers for that post than any other topic. My guess is that it is a tricky topic for even the best CI professionals. Everyone has their own ethical lines (including the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals), so what might be an okay tactic to one individual may be crossing the line for another.
But there’s one area that I’ve seen the biggest disconnect between CI professionals and other leaders: whether it is appropriate to impersonate another individual / company to get intel from a competitor they otherwise would not have given up.
I’m on record saying that I am unequivocally against this. I actively discourage individuals that I work with from doing this, even if it means I get pushback. Other companies do it to us. It’s just part of the game. It’ll help us make a better product.
While it is true that I play whack-a-mole in our CRM with fake accounts from competitors and they may consider it “part of the game,” it is absolutely not okay for this to be done. There’s a simple two-question test you should be asking yourself to help you determine whether the intel you are trying to collect can be gathered ethically:
- If the competitor knew who I was, would they have been willing to give me this info? Alternatively, would they have actively prevented me from accessing it?
- Is this information available freely on the web otherwise?
Number one is the big one. If you are a CI professional and you come across a product guide, a help center or a demo that isn’t gated, it is fair game. If those assets are gated and you submit your info as your actual self and the marketing automation sends it to you, that’s fair game. If you submit a demo request or start a trial as your actual self and you hear nothing or your email is rejected, it is fair to say that your competitor does not want you to have access to that kind of info. That means it isn’t fair game.
Okay, so why was this topic on my mind? The Information had an excellent article last week on the co-founder drama currently happening with health-tech startup Modern Health. There are a ton of great nuggets in the story, so I highly recommend reading it (paywall, but The Information is a great subscription), but this was the one that jumped out to me as a CI professional:
Other impersonations continued. One of Alyson Watson’s direct reports used a fake email address, harperstone454@gmail.com, to pose as a potential client to solicit information from competitors, including Spring Health. According to Johnson’s lawsuit, this was done at Watson’s direction. (Spring Health CEO April Koh called out one such act on Twitter.)
First, good for the Spring Health CEO for putting Modern Health on blast for that. If it was happening to Spring Health, it was assuredly happening elsewhere. Second, if your CEO comes to you and asks you to do this, share this story with them as a reason why not to. Or ask to consult with your legal team before doing it, because I can assure you they’re going to ask your CEO to pump the brakes. It may not seem like it in the moment, but the risk reward is not worth it.
The excuse that others do it so you should is bullshit. There are a number of responsible and ethical ways of collecting competitive intel. Creating a fake company or persona is not one of them.
