Spooked By Spokeo
Elmira, N.Y. – Spokeo.com advertises itself as "not your grandma's phone book". Just type in anyone's name and you'll get their hobbies, their address, what their home is worth, their family tree and how about a map with an aerial view of their house?Michelle Magar of Elmira was shocked to learn she was listed on Spokeo.
She's not even listed in the phone book.
It is a bit spooky to have one company out there that's doing nothing but gathering up information about you and offering it to anyone who cares to 1) look it up 2) pay the $2.95 fee to get it all.
I checked out my name and found they had my former New Jersey address but not my PA address. Same with Theresa. My daughter, however was listed for both our former home and her present location with Grandma. My son had two addresses from when he was in U of Idaho and one in Portland.
The fact that the authorities in NY say that this appears to be legal, does not console me.
I've been trying to get my name off their list but keep getting a message about how, to avoid abuse, they are limiting the number of requests daily.
You might want to check out both the news story above and the Spokeo site www.Spokeo.com. Enter your name in the space and then see if you're among those listed. Remember to check previous places of residence as well as your current location.
2 comments:
Aren't you just helping them if you enter past and present addy's?
Let me clarify: I typed in my family's names. They already had listings for the past as well as the current addresses of my son and daughter. They only had the past address for my wife and I. Other information was also available for free...including a google map of our former address.
I provided nothing but my name. I also looked up the data using my email address on their page. Got the same stuff but a wee bit quicker since it didn't have to sift through all the others in the US that have the same name as I do.
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