How journaling app, Path, handles a user’s personal information was brought into question yesterday as it was discovered that the company uploads its users address books to its servers, violating their trust. But barely 24 hours later, CEO Dave Morin, released an apology:
We made a mistake. Over the last couple of days users brought to light an issue concerning how we handle your personal information on Path, specifically the transmission and storage of your phone contacts.
Morin not only offered an apology but deleted the address books from Path’s servers. His quick action in terms of the public apology and rectifying the problem will save Path’s reputation. People are willing to forgive if you admit to the problem, apologize for it, and show how you’ll ensure it’ll never happen again. It’s impossible for a company to operation perfectly, 100% of the time. Things happen. It’s how you handle them when they occur that’s key.
As social networking site, Tagged, learned the hard way when it spammed its users several years ago, it’s better to address the problem publicly versus staying quiet and hoping the bad press will go away. It won’t. Nip it in the bud and move on, taking extra precautions going forward, knowing that all eyes will now be watching your every move. In the video below, Tagged’s CEO Greg Tseng drives home the importance of handling a crisis the ‘right’ away. It’s worth watching to understand why public relations is critical to a company’s success.