Jan 15 2011
Spokeo – What is it and how to remove yourself

I’ve been receiving countless emails on Spokeo, a Pasadena, CA based personal data aggregator, Spokeo collects information about you, including data available on social networks. Then Spokeo sells subscriptions to those who want more detailed information on the person they are searching for.

The FREE information that is available is shocking enough that it is located on one site including data on where you live, phone numbers, who you are married to, previous addresses, how much you make, and much more.

Most people are shocked by this info being in one place. Is Spokeo violating any privacy laws? Are they displaying information that is not available online?

I did a previous post on how to remove your listing from Spokeo, which is what I receive most emails about, is please remove me from Spokeo.

The instructions are clear, please follow them.

Here’s the link:

If you have questions, just post them here, do not send me an email. The folks at Spokeo, I am sure would respond, if you send them an email.

Of course the more people that opt out, the less data they have and thus makes it less valuable to possible subscribers.

Spokeo.com – Subscribe or Opt Out?

Here’s the short version of how to remove yourself from Spokeo:

1. Do a search for your name and find your name, i.e.

https://www.spokeo.com/search?q=victor%20caballero#Los%20Angeles:3257019161/info

that’s my link that I want to remove.

2. Now go to this link which was previously labeled REMOVE, is now under PRIVACY.

https://www.spokeo.com/privacy

You will see a page with this text:

Spokeo aggregates publicly available information from phone books, social networks, marketing surveys, real estate listings, business websites, and other public sources. Spokeo does not originate data or publish user-generated content. Rather, Spokeo indexes third-party data in ways similar to Google or Bing. Spokeo does not control or maintain any aggregated third-party data, and therefore cannot guarantee its accuracy or currentness. Spokeo does not publish directory listings for children under 18. Please read our full privacy policy.

Spokeo cares about data privacy. We have partnered with ReputationDefender, a leading privacy protection agency, to help you control and remove your information on hundreds of other people search sites. Click the banner to get started:


You can also remove your Spokeo listing from public searches for free. Please note that removing your Spokeo listing from public searches does not remove your information from the third-party data sources. Your information will still be shown on other people search sites, and you will need to contact those third-party sites one-by-one, or use ReputationDefender to protect your online identity.

To remove a listing from Spokeo, please enter the URL of the profile and your email address (for verification purposes)

URL: What is a URL?
Email: Why do I have to provide this?
Code:
simple_captcha.jpg

3. Now check your email for further instructions…

You have requested that the following url be removed from Spokeo searches:
https://www.spokeo.com/search?q=victor+caballero#Los+Angeles:3257019161/info

To complete the removal process, please click here.

If the above link is not clickable, please paste the following into your browser:

https://www.spokeo.com/privacy?c=d4dcf5177cc277d31520e29daca172a50341e557&dp=3257019161

Copyright © 2011 Spokeo Inc. All rights reserved.
556 S. Fair Oaks Ave, #101-179, Pasadena, CA 91105

That’s it! You are now set for removal.

Then you get a page with a confirmation:

URL: https://www.spokeo.com/search?q=victor caballero#Los Angeles:3257019161/info

After you attempt to remove two listings you will get this message:

In order to prevent abuse, we must limit the number of privacy requests per email address.
Government officials please use your @.gov email address for priority processing.

This directory listing has been removed.

In my case I had several listings…. So I had to run it more than once.

You can remove as many listings as need be. Here’s a tip, if you have a gmail email address, just add +123 before the @gmail.com and that is a unique email for you. Most services accept it, some don’t, but Spokeo it appears to work. I have now removed three listings.

If you really really need help, just post it here, and I will see what I can do to help you.

Regards,

Victor

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