I checked it out and sure enough there was my personal information for all to see. To make things worse, it was not even accurate! I followed Wendy's instructions for removal and they worked. But this is alarming. What's to insure that I won't be re-added by some internet crawler, or other sites like this won't pop up. They may end up being too numerous to keep track of.
There oughta be a law!
If you agree, write to your congressional representative. For residents of Yellow Springs:
Congressman Steve Austria
1641 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
My letter to Congressman Austria:
April 30, 2010
Congressman Steve Austria
1641 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Re: Dissemination of personal information on the Internet
Dear Congressman Austria:
I have recently been made aware of an Internet Website called Spokeo.com (www.spokeo.com), an online phone book that includes such personal information as photographs one has posted on facebook or other websites, one’s approximate credit score, home value, income, age, and other data. Much of this information is for sale, but some of it is available for free. Ostensibly, you can remove your information by first searching for yourself on their site to find the URL of your page, then going to the Privacy button on the bottom of their page to follow instructions on how to remove your information. It involves several steps, including providing your email address.
There is much that disturbs me about this. While I was able to remove my information, I fear that it will reappear sometime in the future. Therefore, I will have to keep checking back. To make matters worse, the information that was there was not accurate. There were also listings for my immediate and extended family. The fact that I had to opt out, rather than be provided with an opportunity to opt in, put the onus on me. There is also the possibility that they are fishing for email addresses.
I only became aware of this site from the facebook posting of a friend. I could easily have missed it or not been notified. If I only managed to learn about this site in such a precipitous manner, I imagine that there are, or will be, more like it that will not come to my attention. My greatest fear is that sites like this will facilitate the gathering of information by identity thieves.
I hope you will agree that there should be legislation preventing the third-party dissemination of personal information like this on the Internet. I do not know if Congress is taking on this particular problem. If not, I ask that you take the lead by introducing a bill to prevent this.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Virgil Hervey
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5 comments:
Thank you, Virgil and Wendy. I wasn't on there but found my family members. I have emailed them a link to this post.
I've been told that the real mission of these folks, and others like them, is to mine for email addresses...
You might want to create a different email address to use, then perhaps discard, just to "undo" whatever you are trying to undo.
That possibility has occurred to me. It may also be an adjunct to whatever else they are doing. Most of the information they purport to provide is for a fee.
They have absolutely nothing on me. I don't know whether to feel happy or insulted...
It's weird. What they do have is not limited to what you put on the Internet yourself. I know one person who doesn't even use a computer and they have a great deal of detailed information about her. They must search public records such as the county clerk and board of elections.
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