I typed names into Spokeo today and to put it mildly, I freaked out when I retrieved all sorts of personal information from the Internet! Our lives have become publicly open books but what upset me most was finding the personal information of children too! Spokeo does not initiate or create the information. It is a people search engine that aggregates white-pages listings and public records and then makes it available in one place. My free search revealed a substantial amount of personal information. For a small fee, Spokeo will provide even more.
There is a “good news, bad news” scenario here. The bad news is those that know how to search efficiently on the internet are likely to to find personal information one way or another. The good news is that it’s easy to opt out and to remove your profile and the profile of others so the results are not easily accessible in one place on Spokeo. First let me show you how to see what’s available on Spokeo. Then I’ll show you how to remove it.
- Go to Spokeo.com (Click the link to open a new window. You can toggle back and forth from the new window to this window to follow the directions).
- Inhale deeply and remind yourself not to panic.
- Do multiple searches on your personal information to see what information is publicly available. You will need to narrow down your search by location and if you’ve lived at multiple addresses, make sure you do this for each one.
- Name
- Phone
- Username
- Address
Personal Information Aggregator
I’ll admit, I panicked and hyperventilated when I saw the vast amount of personal family information that came from my searches! But you’ve been warned, so hang in there for a few more steps. Now that you know what’s out there, you can remove it from Spokeo. Here’s how:
1. Go back to Spokeo.com (Click the link. It will open in another window so you can go back and forth between Spokeo and this article).
2. Enter the name you want to search.
3. Find the correct person by selecting the correct location.
Find yourself by location
4. Copy the URL (see diagram below) (Enter Control C but do not paste yet)
Copy the URL of the profile you want to remove
5. Scroll down and click on the Privacy Tab at the bottom of the screen.
Open privacy tab to remove profile
6. Paste the URL in the URL field. (see diagram below) (Control V)
Enter the URL of the profile you want to remove
7. Enter your email address followed by the captcha code and then click “Remove This Listing”
8. Check your email for an email from Spokeo.
Find the confirmation email sent to you by Spokeo
9. To complete the removal process, click on the link in the email.
Finalize the profile removal by clicking on the email link
10. For peace of mind, type the name again and verify it is gone. (Worked for me)
11. Take a sigh of relief.
12. Repeat for each profile you wish to remove. Don’t forget to test the other fields as well (email, address, username and phone) and then remove those profiles too, if necessary.
I wish I could tell you this removed your information from the Internet, but it doesn’t. It only removes it from Spokeo which is a good start, right? Please let me know if you have any questions and if you don’t mind sharing, it would be interesting to hear your experiences during this process in a comment following this article.
Until next time,… Stay Cyber Safe!
I followed your directions but I am still listed there…
Cathy Chester recently posted…Courage Despite Adversity: Lessons I Learned From My Mother
Hi Cathy,
Are you certain you followed each step, including the step where you confirm deletion in an email sent to you by Spokeo? Please email me your telephone number and I’ll be happy to walk you through the process. hayley@what-is-privacy.com
Hayley, once again, you’ve come to my rescue! I’m going to sleep a little better tonight. Thanks again for your help.
Linda Wolff recently posted…Things Only a Mother Could Say
A couple ago I removed my name from Spokeo. But, today I learned that it’s all back! So, this solution is only temporary…
gg – I just double checked my own name which I removed a long time ago and it was still not there. May I suggest following the steps carefully again? You can work in 2 separate windows so you can toggle back and forth from Spokeo to the instructions. If you still have an issue, please contact me via the contact form and we can talk on the telephone to remove it together.
I’ve moved around a lot. I was able to remove my name from several locations, but before I was finished, I received the notification: “In order to prevent abuse, we must limit the frequency of automated privacy requests.
Government officials please use your @.gov email address for priority processing.”
I tried using an alternative email address, but that did not help. I guess I will try again tomorrow.
Thanks for publishing this. I’ve known about spokeo for years, but was unsure how to detach my name from this creepio information sales racket.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Victoria. It’s interesting to learn that there is a limit on removing information – I hadn’t encountered that myself and was unaware of it. Please will you let us know if you are successful in continuing the process when you go back to complete it on another day? Thanks again.
I warn readers to avoid links they are uncertain of. Brent, how about a summary of how your service works?
Wow, who knew! Thanks for this info!
You are welcome, Jineen. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Our online presence touches just about every aspect of our lives. Those looking for employment; even those who are employed are subject to a search. Those people who are dating and those planning a political future will have their entire online presence examined. It’s only a matter of time. If left unattended, the information can become a permanent link to and haunt individuals and organizations indefinitely.
EraseMeOut.com is an online, guided tool to remove information from the Internet. It is user-friendly and an automated system. For $20, anyone can begin to erase unwanted information about themselves.
Brent – your tool sounds like an excellent resource! Can you provide a quick description of how information is erased? I understand the concept of SEO and getting more appealing information to show up in the higher results so that negative information can be buried in subsequent pages that most people won’t bother to search through. How is your tool different? Does it completely remove information from the internet or just it just move it further down in the search results?
This was a great tip. I removed all my info from Spokeo
in just a few minutes with your step by step technique that
made it so easy. Everyone on your list should do this.
I’m glad it worked smoothly for you, Keith. I appreciate your feedback very much.
I hope others on my list do the same, especially my close friends and family members. I couldn’t resist checking out some of the info available on people I know. I’m certain many would be highly disturbed by this invasion of privacy!
This is crazy stuff! Just removed my info. Thanks again for keeping us cybersafe!
Glad to be of service.
Oy my stomach is turning. I’ll be doing this. Thanks Hayley!
You’re welcome. Thanks for reading my blog posts, Carpool Goddess! Perhaps this is one you can share? I assume all mom’s would want to check for information on their kids.
I always knew my information was there and so easy to find for strangers, but didn’t know how easily we could remove it!
This was really helpful Hayley. Thanks for a great tip.
xo
You’re welcome, Faye. Don’t forget to do it for your kids too and also for other fields besides your name. I was stunned by what I got when I entered some of the other options.