There have been a lot of interesting websites that I have fallen in love with over the summer. Goodreads.com gave me a website to keep track of which books I’ve read, see how far into a book I am and get suggestions for books I may like based on ones I’ve read. Dayzeroproject.com made setting and reaching goals a much easier task.
However, there is one website that terrifies me. This website is spokeo.com. When you first enter the website, you can type in anyone’s name. I typed in mine.
From here, I was able to see my name, gender and age range, email, phone number, and both addresses that I have lived at. Along with this, it told me my parents’ names, how much my house is worth, and even how many bathrooms it has.
Luckily, my email address, home address and phone number had asterisks blocking out some information so people could not just go onto this website and get my information.
No, you have to pay for that. For $2.95, you can purchase one person’s information. For $3.95 or $4.95 a month (depending on your membership plan), you can get even more people’s information. The worst thing is, the person whose information you are buying does not even know.
The OTHER worst thing is that this website has gotten all of their information legally. They have used phone books, social networks, real estate records, online maps, and marketing surveys. In other words, this is, sadly, completely legal.
There is hope. You can remove your information from this website. Copy the url of the profile you want to remove. Click on privacy (at the bottom of the screen).
Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Select the Opt Out form, and fill out the information (all you will need is an email and the url you have already copied.
I have been warning people about this website since I found out about it. I already removed my profile along with both of my parents’ profiles, and I urge you to do the same.
Anyone can access your information from this site, and that can be a dangerous thing. Please be safe, and please be careful.
Source: spokeo.com
Becki Brown
Editor in Chief
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