Apr 1, 2010

Protect Your Privacy


Totally unrelated to Lent .... my cousin sent me this info about this creepy site.  spokeo.com collects info about people from all sorts of sources, and then publishes it online. I went there and looked up my profile and YIKES, people. I saw all sorts of personal data about myself: financial, personal, hobbies, activities. It was creepy.  In an age of identity theft, credit theft, and fomenting social unrest, this is not what you want hanging out for anyone to see.

Go please go and search this site to see if your information is out there. If so, here's how you can remove it.

1. Go to spokeo.com:  http://www.spokeo.com
2. Type your first and last name in the search bar at the top of the page
3. Locate your profile and click on it (the names are separated by state)
4. When your profile appears, copy the URL from your browser address bar
5. Scroll down to the very bottom of the screen and locate “PRIVACY” in the bottom right corner
6. Click on the “PRIVACY” link
7. Paste the copied URL in the text box
8. Enter your email (you’ll receive a notification email with further instructions)
9. Enter the captcha code displayed to the right of the text box
10. Click the “REMOVE LISTING” command button
11. Go to your email and follow the instructions to confirm deletion

    Please pass this info along!

    4 comments:

    Heidi Britz said...

    Thanks Susan! I checked it out and you are right-creepy. And kudos for "fomenting", I learned a new word today :)

    Eugenie said...

    Yes...really creepy. And not just because my (now deleted) profile said I am in my mid-fifties. I'm not yet even in my mid-forties. In better news, it did say my home is worth more than $1 million, which is laughable...

    Quynh likes to dance crazy said...

    that's just really disturbing.

    Steve said...

    Susan,

    Thank you for this information. I'd bet there are more than one of these sites.

    Steve in Central CA

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