Users Concerned About Online Privacy with Spokeo

slfisher 1 632 Views

A news article was making the Facebook rounds today, warning about a site called Spokeo.com that aggregates publicly available information.

"It can list your address, a picture of your home, how much it cost, how long you have lived there, your approximate age and income, your relationship status and more," the article warned. "And it is online for anyone to see."

Well, sort of.

Around a year ago, Spokeo.com was encouraging people to sign up and link their address books to the site, ostensibly so someone who had friends on multiple social media sites could track them down.

"Enter any single email address, and Spokeo will search across 41 social networks for all related online profiles," the company said, in an email message from January, 2009. "If you import an entire address book, Spokeo will show you all your friends' photos, videos, and blogs."

Apparently, the site did a little more with the information than that.

The article warned that some users had found that the information on the site was incorrect, and so it was for me -- it listed me as married to someone ten years older than his actual age whom I divorced in 2002, that my house was worth $1 million (let me tell you, my *town* is hardly worth that much), that I played hockey and football, and that my 60+ year-old house was built in 2003.

On the other hand, it has the picture of my house from Google Streetview, as well as my address and telephone number, as well as other personal information about me -- plus other personal information I can only see by paying $3 a month.

The article describes a procedure for removing one's information from the site, starting by clicking "Privacy" on the bottom of the site. However, when I did that, the site wanted a Captcha response -- which it did not display properly in either Google Chrome or Microsoft Internet Explorer, and which offered no other options for, say, the visually impaired. (A later attempt, after rebooting the browser, worked.)

The site reportedly also gets information from social networking sites such as Facebook, which is likely to increase calls for improved privacy on such sites.

Dani AI

Generated

A short expert addendum tied to the points raised by , and : the publication and resale of assembled profiles is an industry‑level practice (not a one‑off site glitch), and regulators have repeatedly flagged the lack of transparency and consumer controls in the data‑broker / people‑search market. (ftc.gov)

Practical, step‑by‑step mitigation that complements the thread discussion:

  1. Inventory all public listings by searching name + city/phone/email variants and capture screenshots.
  2. Submit opt‑out/removal requests on each people‑search site found, track each request in a simple spreadsheet, and use a dedicated/alias email for confirmations. Many brokers make the opt‑out process slow or inconsistent, so persistence is required. (privacyrights.org)
  3. For identifiable property imagery, request additional blurring or report a problem through map providers’ image tools (Google Street View supports a permanent “Request blurring” for a given image). Keep records of submissions and any confirmation emails. (maps.google.com)

Short note on liability and enforcement: private lawsuits over inaccurate profiles have legal limits — the U.S. Supreme Court’s Spokeo decision narrowed federal standing by requiring a concrete, particularized injury to bring many statutory claims. At the same time, regulators (the FTC) have taken enforcement action against data brokers for deceptive or unlawful uses of compiled profiles. Those two facts explain why harms sometimes lead to agency enforcement but not always to a straightforward plaintiff victory in federal court. For details, see the Supreme Court opinion and the FTC enforcement files. (law.cornell.edu)

Cautions and longer‑term advice: do not send more identity documents than strictly required for an opt‑out (where possible); expect removals to require periodic maintenance; consider a reputable removal service only as a convenience (it does not guarantee permanence). Combine removal work with tightening social account privacy, minimizing public directory listings, and documenting inaccuracies in case evidence is needed later.

Member Avatar for mhfp
mhfp 0 Newbie Poster

It is absolutely an invasion of privacy. I am a professional and have very little information that I post on the internet, have an unlisted phone number and a block on my phone number when I make calls. Yet my address and Google Street View of my house and other personal info (much incorrect) are available on Spokeo. This info was not posted by me, and must have been gleaned from public records through our county offices. Only sophisticated users would have this access. I have done Google searches on myself and none of this info is available.
With Spokeo, it is all available just by searching for a name.
Will Spokeo be liable when harm comes to those listed?
If someone's house if robbed, or the individual is harmed by someone who locates them (and their spouse and children - all of whom are listed)?

Member Avatar for InsightsDigital
InsightsDigital 57 Posting Virtuoso

Thanks for bringing this very important issue up. Nowadays, many social sites broadcast and capitilize on a user's email address book - making it viral but also capturing any associated information along with it. Social networks have shaved away the important concept of privacy but it can come back and haunt you when your social moments (even wrong ones) can be used against you in professional settings.

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