Spams & Scams: What's all the fuss about Spokeo?

If you ever want to creep yourself out a little, head to Spokeo and enter your name and city. Labeling itself "not your grandma's phonebook," Spokeo launched in 2007 and stores all sorts of information on all sorts of people. But Spokeo's not stalking you — and if you're concerned with what it's publishing, you should take a look at your online habits, rather than the website itself.

FYI EVERYONE
This is the sort of email that's been doing the rounds, passed on by well-meaning friends and relatives who are "looking out for your safety" by spreading somewhat mis-informed panic.

"There's a site called spokeo.com and it's an online phonebook that has a picture of your house, credit score, profession, age, how many people live in the house. Remove yourself AND ANY AKA OR SPOUSE by the Privacy button on the bottom right. (passing along, scary stuff!) I have personally checked it out .... and it is really there! CUT PASTE AND REPOST!!!"

The truth of the matter is that all of the information published on Spokeo — including but not limited to your full name, age, income, home value, relationship status, and user names — is available on other online locations. All Spokeo does is collate it all into one (terrifyingly) handy-dandy spot.

Social networking sites are, of course, largely to blame here. How private is your personal profile? Do you talk about your kids? The area you live in? Your plans for the day?

The information posted on Spokeo isn't always 100% accurate. Fifteen people were asked to search for themselves, and 10 of them found inaccuracies in the Spokeo report, with 3 announcing the report was "way off base." Most commonly, reports are riddled with errors relating to false addresses, inflated incomes, the wrong number of people in the household, and even the wrong marital status.

What Spokeo does with your information
Technically, there's nothing wrong with Spokeo, but that doesn't automatically make it right, either. One of the more worrisome aspects is that some of your personal information is hidden behind a pay wall — hand over $4.95 to the website, and you'll get extra access for three months.

A recent blog from Spokeo explains the company's position:

We recognize that for some users it can be a startling experience to encounter a block of personalized information which they may otherwise be unaware exists – particularly when the information is of a type they may perceive as 'private.' It is important to understand, however, that Spokeo does not generate any data, nor is it the source. We simply aggregate public records already published across the Internet and other venues, many of which have been in existence for a very long time, and act as a search engine like Google.

Spokeo is quick to reassure concerned visitors that it does not keep Social Security numbers, drivers' license details, bank accounts or any other private financial information. That's some small solace when it does maintain information about your household income, home value and street address (complete with Google map closeup).

So what can you do?
Spokeo itself offers some information on just how to opt out from its search results.

Essentially, you'll need to search for yourself, copy the URL to your personal page, head to Spokeo's privacy page, paste in the URL, and enter your email address (we recommend using a secondary email account that you use for mailing lists, rather than the primary one you use for personal mail). Check your inbox for the confirmation email, and click the link to complete the removal process. Your directory listing will be marked, and a human will remove the entry "within 1 business day." It's also a good idea at this point to delete any Spokeo-related cookies, too.

I'm sure you're not surprised that people have been reporting varied levels of success when trying to opt out of this information, but it's the best we can do at this point.

A lot of fuss over nothing
Spokeo is relatively harmless — like ZabaSearch before it — but if you're really concerned, take a deep breath and work out where the site got its information from. Check your Facebook profile, any websites you maintain, and anywhere else you think could list your name and address. Then, start removing any examples you find, and think twice before publishing your personal details online.

Remember that while your personal information didn't instantly appear on the internet, it won't disappear instantly either. Have patience!

[image source: Spokeo, Nina Hale, Sam Greenhalgh]

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