Spokeo Reviews

Spokeo was founded by four Stanford University graduates who originally used it to pull data from social media sites. Over time, they upgraded the search engine to the point that members now have access to a full portfolio complete with criminal records, a family tree, and even property values.

As a background check service, the company aims to inform users about numerous aspects of their subject’s life. However, Spokeo stands out from the competition with its comprehensive data sources and alternative search method that resembles a phone book, where you can alphabetically browse through the family names of millions of U.S. residents.

The company is clearly handy for personal tasks like looking up a person you’re dating online or reverse searching an unknown number that keeps calling you. However, it could also be key for companies in real estate, skip tracing, law enforcement, and fraud investigations, with it even providing an API for a more streamlined workflow.

Spokeo gathers information from thousands of sources, including public records. The data is organized into a comprehensive data sheet about your target, closely resembling an in-depth CV. It can also be stamped ‘verified’, meaning it includes data confirmed by authoritative sources.

The list starts with key pieces of information such as name, birth month and year, age, location, and a photo if it’s available. It’s also possible to monitor a profile and be notified if anything changes.

The service wraps up the report with the subject’s relatives, social media platforms, work and education history, and personal information, such as census, birth, military, and marriage records.

However, Spokeo provides a disclaimer stating that under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), it should not be used for employee or tenant screening, and cannot guarantee that its sources (and data) are up to date. This may be due to the fine it received in 2012 from the Federal Trade Commission for selling information to recruiters for employment screening and not respecting consumer protection laws.

The site encourages everyone to test its free basic search engine. A search bar is featured at the bottom of the main page, where the various parameters for the search algorithm can be set. Users are able to find someone by entering the subject’s name, username, phone number, email, or address. The first option is straightforward, but it’s possible that you’ll end up with a lot of results.

The good thing about searching with an email address is that it should retrieve any of the target’s cross-linked social media accounts. Interestingly, doing an address-based search may bring up valuable details about the house or even highlight any sex offence charges in the neighborhood.

We found the user interface extremely straightforward, and first-time visitors will definitely feel at ease. The main search bar is the first thing you’ll see on the site, and it can do it all. The same level of convenience awaits those who use the service on their smartphone, thanks to its mobile-optimized site.

Spokeo pulls data from thousands of sources, both online and offline, such as social media pages, court records, and real estate listings. It even offers the service to enterprises.

Despite insisting that the background reports don’t constitute credit reports and that the information cannot be used for employment screenings, the data gathered by the search algorithm could still be very useful for marketing agencies or house hunters. Nevertheless, it’s important to stress that the presented data may not be 100% accurate or up to date.

Spokeo doesn’t store your personal information itself but instead uses third-party 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to protect your data. It’s also possible to increase your account security with 2-step verification.

The company’s privacy policy clearly states that you need to be over 18 to create an account. The policy informs users that some of their information, such as their search history and cookies, is collected purely to improve their customer experience and develop and improve its services. It also informs users that certain information (such as your IP address) is collected for the sole purpose of background verification against fraud.

Performing a reverse search will reveal Spokeo's profile of you, and if you don’t like what you see, then the site offers an opt-out process to hide it from others. This option is available from the privacy policy page, and all you need to do is enter the URL of the unwanted report and then provide an email address for verification purposes. Bear in mind that your presence is only removed from the search results of Spokeo and not any of the public records from which it was drawn.

While Spokeo allows customers to search the database without an upfront payment or a dedicated account, access to any information other than someone’s name, age, or location requires a premium subscription.

The company offers both personal and business paid plans. While it claims to provide a range of options with different costs, the only visible prices are its monthly and quarterly plans for personal use, costing $19.95 and $14.95 per month, respectively.

All other variations in pricing are hard to find, and businesses need to contact customer service for an enterprise quote and to access its free demo.

Plans come with monthly search quotas, and while these start at 100, it’s difficult to find information on the website about how much increasing this quota costs. Court and historical record searches are available as add-ons, but again, this price is unknown.

The company provides refunds and suggests users get in touch with customer service if they wish to cancel the service.

Spokeo has received a stellar A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, which is a testament to its customer service. The help desk assistants are available from 5 am on weekdays and 7 am on weekends until 6 pm, and there are also staff dedicated solely to helping out those who wish to prevent their profile from popping up in searches. We found the live chat only helpful some of the time, as it didn’t have answers to quite a few questions.

The customer service team can be contacted by phone or email, but it’s also possible to request a call to opt out of its searches. The company is active on Facebook and X and shares inspirational videos on YouTube about how people have used the service to reunite with their loved ones.

However, the service is a viable option for marketing businesses when used ethically. It’s budget-friendly, although it’s hard to get much clarity on the cost of upgrades and add-ons, and even what the basic premium plan provides. However, we rate the company highly for its free option, which has a thorough people search engine and extremely clear reports.