Posted on 07/08/2010 3:53:32 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Harrison Tang cares about his privacy and takes elaborate steps to protect it. Your privacy is another matter.
Tang, 27, is cofounder of a “people search” website called Spokeo, which serves up extraordinarily detailed profiles of pretty much everyone — including you — gleaned from online directories, databases and social networks.
The site began as a lark in a Stanford University dorm room but really took off when the improved version was launched in March after a move to Southern California. Suddenly the number of daily searches topped 1 million. About 100,000 people signed up for full access to Spokeo's resources for $14.85 for three months or $35.40 for a year, gaining access to full addresses and all sorts of information about what kind of lives people lead.
A free search will likely turn up the street someone lives on and their phone number, even if it's unlisted. You'll see that person's age (or a close approximation), ethnicity, occupation, education, hobbies, relationship status, Zodiac sign, whether he or she has kids, even the quality of their neighborhood.
Not all the info is on spot on, but it is closer to accurate than not.
Since all the information is legally up for grabs, Spokeo is guilty of nothing more than building a better mousetrap. Tang said the privately held site pools data from about 80 sources, including LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter and Yelp.
Facebook is the most prominent exception to Spokeo's digital reach. “We're still working on that,” Tang said. “We're talking to them about it.”
Yet even without access to Facebook's voluminous user pages, Spokeo might strike some as a Christmas present for stalkers, spouse abusers and others with ill intent. Tang said he's sensitive to such perceptions, but believes his site offers nothing that couldn't be found elsewhere, albeit with perhaps a bit more hunting and gathering.
“Stalkers already know how to get this information,” he said.
Tang noted that Spokeo allows people to opt out from being included in its searches. To do so, though, you have to give the company your e-mail address and then confirm it's a working address by clicking on a link the company will send you. Those are two data points most privacy-minded people may not want to provide, especially to a website that's already eager to know more about you.
Spokeo is also affiliated with a business called ReputationDefender Inc., which for $9.95 a month or $95.40 a year promises to erase your information from Spokeo and other people-search services. Because Spokeo gets a cut any time a user signs up through its site with ReputationDefender, it finds itself in the interesting position of profiting from a solution to the problem it helped cause.
Tang repeatedly stressed that Spokeo doesn't represent a greater threat to people's privacy. But it's noteworthy that he's opted out from inclusion on his own site.
“I was getting a lot of e-mails and threats,” Tang explained. “It was decided by others at the company, and by lawyers, that it would be better if I opted out.”
Moreover, it turns out that the business address the company lists online and with state authorities is a small mailbox at a UPS Store in a Pasadena strip mall. No phone number is provided.
But a little sifting of publicly available information revealed that Spokeo Inc. is based on the second floor of a nondescript office building at 1010 E. Union St., not far from Pasadena City College. The company's phone number is (626) 396-9496.
Tang said he appreciated the privacy issues that I raised and that he intends to put some thought to addressing them.
“There's still a lot that we need to do,” he said. “We've created a sizable user community. We have to be more socially responsible.”
He could start by asking people in advance if they want their personal information included in Spokeo searches, rather than making us opt out. But something tells me the company's profit would vanish quickly.
In the digital age, let's face it, there's no money in doing the right thing.
bump for later
The information really IS too much. I’ve seen the site, and it had things like my interests (spot on) and childrens cell phone numbers.
I opted out, but be aware you need a junk email address to do this. I always keep a few email addresses active for stuff I know is going to give me spam, and I used one of them for this.
It appears that I do not exist.
My email address does, but not much is known about it.
they don’t know I exit, apparently
Wow, they really messed up on me. For my picture, one of the guys looks just like Gary Coleman. They missed my street by about 3 miles. They missed all my kids.
If you posted it on Facebook or some chat room, you get what you deserve.
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