Facebook
Linkedin
RSS Feed
Twitter
YouTube
Deleting Your Spokeo Profile
Privacy, as we know it, is dead. A website called Spokeo now provides everything about you in one convenient little form. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING.
The site claims to be “not your grandma’s phonebook” and it provides photos, bios, email addresses, wealth, hobbies, and social networks about everyone who has a presence on the web (which is 99 percent of Americans).
I logged on there, put my name in, and it came back with: My exact address, my age, that I’m married, and how much we paid for our house. And that’s just on the first page.
If you dig down, you can find out how much my house is worth (apparently not as much as we paid for it), how many square feet it is, how many bathrooms it has, and a photo of my front yard as it looks right this second.
Digging further, it says we have lived in our house for five years and that there are two parents and one child. But it lists me as the child…and the parents as unknown. That’s funny! I guess Mr. D doesn’t live here?
And if I’m a stalker, I can pay $2.95 a month and have access to all of the information I want on any person, including income, debt, and a comparison to the neighbors (talk about keeping up with the Jones’!).
It’s scary, scary stuff and, even though I’m a big believer in transparency, I’m also a believer in safety through some semblance of privacy. I mean, I was stalked right after I graduated from college and the guy knew where I lived, where I worked, what I wore each day, where I went to lunch. It was really scary…and he had to work pretty hard to figure all of that out. Now he’d just have to go to Spokeo and all of the work is done for him.
The good news is you can get yourself off of there.
- Go to Spokeo and type in your name.
- Copy the URL when it brings up your information.
- Go to the bottom of the page and click on “privacy”
- Paste the URL in the box provided
- Include your email address (it gives you further instructions via email)
- Enter the code
- Go to your email and click on the link they provide to you
- Confirm the directory listing has been deleted
- Go back to Spokeo and put in your name to be sure it was deleted and they can’t find you
Hope this helps!
Information is still not totally removed.
Use Google and you can still view personal information.
Even if some of it is omitted with the use of asterisks, personal information is still easily viewed from a page referred by a Google search.
They also auto-renew your account and don't issue a refund if you cancel.
I deleted a bunch of spokeo accounts a couple years ago for my family and myself. They were back now.
RT @ginidietrich: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT ginidietrich Delete Your Spokeo Profile to Protect your Privacy. Do you know what's out there about you? http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ChicagoDiane: Very helpful! RT @rwohlner: RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @lonniehodge: RT @ChicagoDiane: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M Creepy site Spokeo. Stalker's heaven
RT @rwohlner: RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ChicagoDiane: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M Creepy site Spokeo. Stalker's heaven
RT @ChicagoDiane: Very helpful! RT @rwohlner: RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
Very helpful! RT @rwohlner: RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ginidietrich: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
@mattcrouch http://www.spinsucks.com/social-media/deleting-your-spokeo-profile/
RT @ginidietrich: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ginidietrich: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @cydneyw: RT @amandaoleson: Important! RT @ginidietrich: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @amandaoleson: Important! RT @ginidietrich: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
Spokeo came & went w/out my noting.. but FYI: RT @eicdocket RT @ginidietrich: 9 easy steps 2 delete your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
Important! RT @ginidietrich: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ginidietrich: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
Thanks ginidietrich for this info: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ginidietrich: Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
Nine quick and easy steps to deleting your Spokeo profile http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ricktillery: yes, you do... RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT ginidietrich Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M Agreed!
A MUST Read! RT @angelica7641: RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ricktillery: yes, you do... RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
I always trust Gini: RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
Spooky, Spokeo! RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M #privacy
RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
Yes. RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
SPOOKEO RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
Scary. How accurate is it? RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
How to remove your personal info from spokeo.com http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
WTH? how does it know that about me. RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
agreed... RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
yes, you do... RT @ginidietrich: Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
Deleting your Spokeo profile (trust me - you want to do this) http://bit.ly/g3WM4M
As a recruiter we use these tools to locate difficult candidates. Some posts here mention this is no different than opening the phone book, whitepages.com or even netdetective.com. The only difference is that it shows a person's "demographics" with regards to price of home and income. When i reviewed my spokeo profile it was just that. Nothing "exact" as this article claims. In fact my profile mentioned that I "Like the outdoors" and "I like to go for bicycle rides". FALSE! You will have a better chance of identity theft by opening a credit card or purchasing a vehicle. Those companies ACTUALLY SELL your info. Purchasing property/home is public knowledge viewable via county records. To safeguard your personal info I suggest you shred any solicitation via post mail and have your utility bills coverted to ebills. In order to obtain someones identity, one will need more than Spokeo to be successful.
Try this new beta service which includes Spokeo removal.
http://www.privacychoice.org/disconnect
One more thing to try: if you/spouse use a middle initial, try putting that in as well. That way you can make sure you delete all listings associated with your name.
I saw this post earlier, Gini, and just went to the site. it is TRULY frightening. Thank you so much for working through this and sharing.
Shonali Make sure you look at your other names (if you're using your husband's last name). I forgot about my maiden name and sure enough! There is was.
ginidietrich Yup; it didn't have my maiden name (probably a good thing). I think we need to make sure our spouses/significant others delete theirs as well.
Thanks for sharing, Gini! A friend of mine had posted info re: Spokeo, last week. I deleted my account then, but after seeing your post, I thought, "Hmmm, I should check to see if my *full* name has a listing." Sure enough, there it was....picture of my house and all! AH!
So, an extra tidbit of advice to everyone would be: Make sure you check your nickname *and* your full name!
-Katie (aka Kathryn) :)
Katie Gutwein Katie - that's a great point. I just went and looked for my maiden name and it was there. Thank you!
Does this delete the information that Spokeo has for $2.95 per month or just the free stuff?
[...] It’s been viewed, shared and commented on heavily since it came out. The post was about “Deleting Your Spokeo Profile” and it detailed what information could be found on Spokeo.com and how to delete the profile. I [...]
[...] heavily since it came out. The post was about “Deleting Your Spokeo Profile” and it detailed what information could [...]
[...] Luckily you can delete your profile on the account by following these simple steps I found on the Spin Sucks Blog: [...]
[...] No. And if you want to delete all of your information that was scraped by Spokeo.com, then don’t worry. It’s possible. And here’s how, thanks to Gini Dietrich over at Spin Sucks. [...]
[...] Deleting Your Spokeo Profile | Spin Sucks – [...]
[...] No. And if you want to delete all of your information that was scraped by Spokeo.com, then don’t worry. It’s possible. And here’s how, thanks to Gini Dietrich over at Spin Sucks. [...]