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ashkitty, who gacked it from someone else:
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Privacy PSA
A friend just shared some disturbing info:
1. Go here: http://www.spokeo.com/
2. Type in your name.
3. Be appalled by the amount of personal info (name, address, phone #, age group, names of family members who live with you, or the fact that you live alone) they've gathered about you and are providing for the world to see. They even provide a map to your house.
To opt out, you need to go all the way to the bottom, find the little tiny gray 'Privacy' link, click that, go through their hoops, go to your email, and confirm through your email.
(My friend found that the 'not-a-bot' code was impossible to read. If you guess right, you won't know, because the screen won't change, so you just have to keep trying until you get an email confirmation message that you want to opt out.)
Snopes.com's listing said that, during their trials, clicking the link emailed to them took them back to the spokeo.com privacy page, and the records to be blocked remained intact. So, be aware that it might not work.
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I went and looked me up, and was appalled at what they knew about me. I managed to delete my record, but I had to try three browsers before the whole removal page would load. Also, you can only use the same email address a couple times to remove a listing, AND if you try too often to remove one, it'll cut you off and tell you to try again tomorrow. Trying sometimes = mistyping the not-a-bot random letters/numbers.
I was able to get rid of mine, Mom's, and two listing for Grandma, one old, one current. Got stalled on getting rid of Grandpa's. Some of the info they had was so wrong it's funny, like my uncle and a woman I've never heard of living in my grandparents' apartment with them. Less funny, the complete phone number and the random creepy facts they know about us.
I'm a little less freaked out now that I've been able to get rid of some of this stuff, but... oy.
ashkitty, who gacked it from someone else:---
Privacy PSA
A friend just shared some disturbing info:
1. Go here: http://www.spokeo.com/
2. Type in your name.
3. Be appalled by the amount of personal info (name, address, phone #, age group, names of family members who live with you, or the fact that you live alone) they've gathered about you and are providing for the world to see. They even provide a map to your house.
To opt out, you need to go all the way to the bottom, find the little tiny gray 'Privacy' link, click that, go through their hoops, go to your email, and confirm through your email.
(My friend found that the 'not-a-bot' code was impossible to read. If you guess right, you won't know, because the screen won't change, so you just have to keep trying until you get an email confirmation message that you want to opt out.)
Snopes.com's listing said that, during their trials, clicking the link emailed to them took them back to the spokeo.com privacy page, and the records to be blocked remained intact. So, be aware that it might not work.
---
I went and looked me up, and was appalled at what they knew about me. I managed to delete my record, but I had to try three browsers before the whole removal page would load. Also, you can only use the same email address a couple times to remove a listing, AND if you try too often to remove one, it'll cut you off and tell you to try again tomorrow. Trying sometimes = mistyping the not-a-bot random letters/numbers.
I was able to get rid of mine, Mom's, and two listing for Grandma, one old, one current. Got stalled on getting rid of Grandpa's. Some of the info they had was so wrong it's funny, like my uncle and a woman I've never heard of living in my grandparents' apartment with them. Less funny, the complete phone number and the random creepy facts they know about us.
I'm a little less freaked out now that I've been able to get rid of some of this stuff, but... oy.
