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Spokeo
Type of businessPrivate company
Type of site
People Search Engine
Available inEnglish
FoundedMountain View, California, USA (2006)
HeadquartersPasadena, California, USA
Founder(s)Mike Daly, Harrison Tang, Ray Chen, and Eric Liang[1]
IndustrySoftware
ProductsSpokeo
Revenue$57 million (2014)
URLspokeo.com
RegistrationSubscription required for most uses
Users18 million (2015)
Launched11/5/2006

Spokeo is a people search website that aggregates data from online and offline sources.[3]

History

Spokeo was founded in 2006 by a group of people who graduated from Stanford University—Mike Daly, Harrison Tang, Ray Chen, and Eric Liang.[4] The original idea came from Tang, who found it difficult to keep up with all the different posts his friends made across various social networks. The four founders developed the idea in early 2006, using Tang's parent's basement.[5] In November 2006 the site officially launched, after attracting an initial round of angel investment in the "low hundreds of thousands" according to co-founder Ray Chen.[4][6]

The site has evolved to become an information-gathering website that offers various options for finding information about people. It purports to know, among other things, your income, religion, spouse's name, credit status, the number of people in your household, a satellite shot of your house and its estimated value.[7] The company's revenues for 2014 were $57 million,[8] and as of 2015, the site had 18 million users.[9]

Technology

Spokeo utilizes deep web crawlers to aggregate data.[10] Searches can be made for a name, email, phone number, username or address. The site allows users to remove information about themselves through an "opt-out" process.[11] Spokeo aggregates information from public records and does not do original research into personal data. It aggregates marketing data approximations into the data it finds from social media and online registry sites.[12][13] The company gives users access to 12 billion public records.[14]

Larry Ponemon has raised concerns about the general practice of gathering personal data and the potential for identity theft.[7] When Spokeo released version 4 of its website, KGPE-TV aired a piece on Spokeo outlining local law enforcement agencies' concerns that the site would enable cyberstalking. They reported that credit information was being included in some online profiles and that Spokeo had a feature that provided photos of private residences.[15] Search results on Spokeo offered to provide a "credit estimate" and "wealth level" information, as well as information about a target's mortgage value, estimated income, and investments. Spokeo CEO Harrison Tang has said that credit information is not actually available through Spokeo.[16]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Spokeo $800,000 for marketing information to human resource departments for employment screening without adhering to consumer protection provided by the FCRA—the first FTC fine involving personal data collected online and sold to potential employers.[17] Under the settlement, in addition to the $800,000 fine for Spokeo’s FCRA and FTC violations, Spokeo is required to submit compliance reports to the FTC for twenty years.[18]

A class action lawsuit was filed against Spokeo seeking injunctive relief and monetary damages for the alleged violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act,[19] and the lawsuit was initially dismissed for lack of standing.[20] The case was appealed and Spokeo lost. Spokeo has appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case on April 27, 2015.[21]

On May 16, 2016, the Supreme Court decided that concrete harm had not been established by the 9th Circuit Court, only particularized ("the requirement that an injury affect the plaintiff in a personal and individual way", "individualized rather than collective" - quotes from the brief) harm.[22] In the brief,[23] most of the judgement is based on law established in the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970. As to the concrete requirement from this act, it seems from the brief that the court based its analysis on the chain of evidence lacking as to whether a Robins's potential employer had used Spokeo to make the determination, and on the failure of the 9th Circuit Court to properly consider whether the risk created to Robins from the incorrect information was enough to satisfy the concreteness requirement. The case has been vacated at the Supreme Court and remanded to the 9th Circuit Court for further consideration.

Philanthropy

Spokeo has donated money to scholarship funds for US university students.[24] The company also runs Search Angels, which uses "volunteers who use Spokeo to help those touched by adoption, foster care and other family separations to find long-lost family members while also offering emotional support."[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Spokeo Optimizes People Search For Your Smartphone". SoCalTech. September 13, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Spokeo.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  3. ^ "Privacy Unplugged". July 22, 2010.
  4. ^ a b David Lazarus (July 2, 2010). "Spokeo website gathers details on everyone, except its founder". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved October 8, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Noelle Johansen (February 2, 2011). "Spokeo and friends means privacy endangered". Utah Statesman. Retrieved October 9, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Matt Marshall (November 29, 2006). "Spokeo — integrates MySpace, Facebook, Flickr and more". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 8, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b Brandon, John (January 19, 2011). "Spokeo A Growing Threat To Internet Privacy, Cyber Security Experts Warn".
  8. ^ "Spokeo on the Forbes America's Most Promising Companies List".
  9. ^ "Q&A with Spokeo founder Harrison Tang on funding a startup, challenges and secrets of success".
  10. ^ JR Raphael (March 10, 2009). "People Search Engines: They Know Your Dark Secrets…And Tell Anyone". PC World. Retrieved October 8, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Paresh Dave (August 14, 2013). "Redesigned Spokeo now focuses on reconnecting old pals". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 8, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ Amar Toor (January 20, 2011). "Spokeo Publishes All of Your Personal Information in One Place. Here's How to (Temporarily) Protect Your Privacy". Switched.com. Retrieved October 9, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Grant Gross (July 2, 2010). "Spokeo: CDT's Privacy Complaint 'unwarranted'". PC World. Retrieved October 9, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Spokeo unveils service to help curb fraud".
  15. ^ "CBS47.tv – New Website Sparks Privacy Concerns". April 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
  16. ^ "WILX.com – What Does Spokeo Say About You?". April 7, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  17. ^ "FTC Issues First Internet Data Fine". Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  18. ^ "Spokeo Agrees to $800,000 FTC Settlement". The National Law Review. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. June 16, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  19. ^ Hachman, Mark (July 20, 2010). "Spokeo Suit Claims Site Offers Inaccurate Info". PC Magazine. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  20. ^ "Court Dismisses Class Action Against Spokeo for Lack of Standing -- Robins v. Spokeo". February 7, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  21. ^ "Congress's power to permit lawsuits at issue". April 27, 2015.
  22. ^ "Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins".
  23. ^ http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/13-1339_f2q3.pdf
  24. ^ "Former Grant student wins Spokeo scholarship". November 12, 2015.
  25. ^ "Pasadena-based Spokeo emerges as a top people search engine".
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