I like to think that I retain pretty tight control over the content I have available on the internet. After all, I am the writer, editor, and publisher of this blog, which is my main source of web exposure.
Or at least I thought it was. Turns out Facebook, web-based white pages, and property records are pretty revealing, too.
A friend on Facebook recently posted a tidbit about Spokeo, a website that collects information from various online sites and then spits out one jumbo personalized history of an individual.
Naturally, I entered my name.
And was not entirely pleased with the results. Using my maiden name, I was able to see two former addresses, my gender, general age, relationship status, and an estimate of my yearly income.
They were also able to link me to my father. And tell me how many years my parents have lived at their current address. Want to see a photo of the house I live in? Click on the ‘property’ tab.
Yup, that’s my casa.
Frankly, it was a little creepy.
If you wish to remove yourself from their searchable database, copy the URL and then click on privacy down in the lower right-hand corner. Enter that URL, your email address, and they’ll send you an email allowing you to complete the removal of your information.
Peeps, online privacy is clearly a thing of the past.
