Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.
In an earlier post on this blog, I discussed privacy concerns arising out of location sharing services like Foursquare and Gowalla, which allow users to post their current location (in case anyone’s curious, I’m writing this from a Virgin America jet 30,000 feet over Wyoming), thereby allowing potential thieves to know you aren’t home (and I’ll be back before this is posted).
Different privacy concerns arise from Spokeo and similar sites. Spokeo compiles personal information from various public sources and posts it for all to see. Think you have an unlisted phone number? Maybe not. If you’ve given your “unlisted” number to one of the sources Spokeo compiles from (political campaign contributions are one such source, and I suspect magazine subscription details are another), your unlisted number will be posted on Spokeo for all to see. Spokeo also lists people’s interests and hobbies, and their age and income.
Spokeo is by no means perfectly accurate – I show up as residing in a city I left over six years ago, at an address in that city I moved from long before that. It shows my father as being married to someone neither of us has ever heard of. On the other hand, however, it does accurately show some of my wife’s interests and hobbies (while being wrong on other information about her).
Individuals can opt out of having their information listed on Spokeo but must provide an email address to do so. Tellingly, perhaps, one of Spokeo’s founders has himself opted out of being listed on his own site.
Should employers use Spokeo to look for information about job applicants? On one hand, the information could be interesting and possibly relevant in determining whether the applicant is a good fit for the organization. But on the other hand, the information could provide details about an applicant’s membership in one or more protected categories, or otherwise provide details you wouldn’t ask the applicant about. And, as noted above, the accuracy of some of Spokeo’s information is dubious at best. Employers should also keep in mind that because of the nature of the information compiled on Spokeo, looking at it for an applicant might constitute a background check under the FCRA. On balance, it may be better not to use Spokeo or similar sites as an investigatory tool.