Spokeo is the most bone-chillingly invasive "content aggregation" website to emerge since Intelius. The company claims to be a "search engine specialized in organizing people-related information."
What-EVER. Spokeo is a search engine of people. Pure and simple. For a small fee, you can access information on just about anyone you want and grab their home address, phone number and e-mail, photos and videos and employment information, and even personal interests right down to what social networks they hang out on.
Here is one of the ways this might work: Companies like The White Pages (or Facebook...) can share a feed from their database that connects and synchronizes with databases at companies like Spokeo. Both parties have authorized rights to share your information, by the way, and it's legal - you probably didn't read those Terms of Use very closely...
Like other content aggregators, Spokeo is a company positioned to profit on the casual end-user's naivete and misplaced trust; on the illusion of anonymity that die-hard idealists still cling to on the web, hoping their movements still go untracked and unmonitored.
People have been flipping out over recent changes in Facebook's privacy policy and "website sharing." A friend of mine posted to his wall: "Is it just me or is Facebook becoming more and more like Big Brother?" - to which a friend of his replied: "Only if you have something to hide <smiley>."
True, but...also missing the point by a cool mile. Everyone's got something to hide. Some things should stay between you and the credit bureau, for example.
It takes substantial skill to "hide" these days, and with busy lives and jam-packed schedules, who's got time to be vigilant about policing the internet? I mean, we can't all be Jason Bourne, right?
On the bright side, Spokeo is still heavily flawed. Many of the listings are either marginally off-the-mark or dazzlingly inaccurate. Still, better safe than stupid. Click here to get yourself removed from Spokeo.
