Spooky-O

With today’s technology and the advent of networking sites, it has become increasingly effortless to overshare. With one click of a button, a person can tell the whole world his mobile number, how much he spent on that last shopping spree or what his class schedule is on Mondays. Because of the internet, people give out more personal information than they normally could or would. However, this cannot be stressed enough: Oversharers should think twice before indulging themselves.

Recently, I was shown this website called Spokeo and it gave me the creeps. Enter any person’s email address and it will show you a compilation of all personal information that he has ever made public on the internet. (This even takes on a whole new level when one pays for premium subscription.) If the website pieces together enough information, it can start to create a pretty accurate profile of a person including his politics, wealth and credit. Put simply, Spokeo scours the internet for a person’s information and makes it available in one location. It’s a stalker’s wonderland and an oversharer’s nightmare.

Privacy issues on the internet are increasingly rampant, and that site is proof. Of course we know that people can search for our information on the internet, but cyber stalking has indeed become easier and more powerful with sites like Spokeo. A seemingly harmless post, comment or picture may still give away too much in an environment where there are sites which give easier access to anything and everything on the internet. While one may request Spokeo to take down their listings, there remains no clear solution to the problem. Because of this, oversharers, and even just people in general, are just better off being more wary of the stuff they put out on the internet.