If you haven’t heard about Spokeo yet then listen up. My wife has turned me on to protecting my privacy online through websites like Facebook that literally will sell your personal information for a profit. Websites like Spokeo aggregate all the personal information about you in one place. It makes it really easy for someone to track you down, and learn what they want about you. For instance, a search for my father shows the street my parents live on, decade of age, zodiac sign, estimated net worth, education level, and more. All that is for free. For a fee, you can see photos, estimated credit score, and other terrifying information you don’t want people to know about. Additionally, it shows the names of other people that live there, and how long they’ve lived there.
The website isn’t perfect, a search for my name actually shows my dad’s information at that address, but it does show my information at the address I lived at in college.
But even scarier is that you can search for people by phone number and email address. It gives you the option to remove your phone number and email address, and I suggest you do so immediately. I removed all my phone numbers and email addresses. So Spokeo, thanks for pulling all this data together, but please give people more options to remove themselves.
 By The Weakonomist |
The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice. |
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To remove your profile page you have to provide your email. Isn’t this just going to give them better, verified data?