Just got an email from my cousin asking for updated contact info. Ok, that's certainly reasonable, except this was a form request thing sent by/through Plaxo. Hmm. Online contact management. Free. Hmm. Ok, so I check out the privacy policy – looks reasonable enough, of course with the “we can change this whenever” clause. TrustE badge, big whoop – they're meaningless.
So. Where's the money? Programmers and websites and advertising (oh my!) cost money – chances are they're not doing it out of the goodness of their collective hearts.
The point of the thing is to sign up and put your entire address book up there. As your contacts join, the data is kept current automagically. They claim they don't use your information. They claim they don't use the contacts you put up there. There don't appear to be any ads involved. What's the catch?
Looks pretty slick though.