New Site Publishes Detailed Personal Info About You
TMI. Too Much Information.
That’s what people are saying about a new site called Spokeo. The site bills itself as “Not your grandma’s phonebook.”
I’ll say.
Spokeo says it is “a search engine specialized in organizing people-related information.”
It “aggregates data from hundreds of online and offline sources, including but not limited to: phone directories, social networks, marketing surveys, mailing lists, government census, real estate listings, and business websites…Most of this data is publically available on the Web.”
Better than Google
Spokeo says it’s better than Google because it searches beyond the Web (thus, providing more comprehensive and targeted results for people-related queries).
Different than Facebook
On Facebook, users share personal data, but they can share anything they choose (in other words, they can lie about themselves). Spokeo gathers data from many public domains and claims that this method gives a more objective, third party perspective about you.
Not completely accurate data
Spokeo does claim that since the data mining is done by computers and there is no human involved, “the data is not verified and might not be accurate.”
Spokeo currently aggregates only US name and phone listings, so you cannot find non-US people by name or phone.
I typed in my name and discovered that about half the information about me was incorrect. Thankfully, Spokeo does not display complete info about your household, wealth, and neighborhood demographics (unless you’re willing to pay $2.95-$4.95/month for a membership).
I suspect that HR directors may find Spokeo helpful for researching job applicants. I suspect that people who want to rob your home or steal your identity will find Spokeo equally helpful.
Try it – see what Spokeo has to say about you, and share your opinion about this new search engine in the Comments area.
Weird…they don't have me, but they have someone else with the same name and same middle initial. !?
Weird…they don't have me, but they have someone else with the same name and same middle initial. !?
Thanks for sharing this, Laura. They have my personal information, but photos of other people.
Thanks for sharing this, Laura. They have my personal information, but photos of other people.
Scary and intrusive… and a lot of inaccuracies.
Scary and intrusive… and a lot of inaccuracies.
I agree about the inaccuracies. So far, everyone who has contacted me, either via email or in the Comments area of the post, has told me that quite a bit of the info is inaccurate. Which could be a good thing, if you don't want people to know everything about you. On the other hand, if an employment recruiter is delving into your personal life and half the info is about you and half is about someone else, that could definitely create problems. I'm surprised that this company would “go public” without working out the major bugs first!
I agree about the inaccuracies. So far, everyone who has contacted me, either via email or in the Comments area of the post, has told me that quite a bit of the info is inaccurate. Which could be a good thing, if you don't want people to know everything about you. On the other hand, if an employment recruiter is delving into your personal life and half the info is about you and half is about someone else, that could definitely create problems. I'm surprised that this company would “go public” without working out the major bugs first!
I really wonder if “personal privacy” is even a reality anymore. There was truth mixed with error on mine. I was relieved there was no information on my kids…yet. Thanks for your helpful, informative tweets!
I really wonder if “personal privacy” is even a reality anymore. There was truth mixed with error on mine. I was relieved there was no information on my kids…yet. Thanks for your helpful, informative tweets!