[1] The company claims its software-as-a-service platform helps businesses monitor and respond to online reviews, social media, and surveys; analyze customer sentiment; and collaborate to make operational improvements.
[8] Under the brand ReputationDefender and up until 2018, the company offered online reputation management services, which according to author Lori Andrews charges clients to remove items about them from the Internet with "no guarantee of success."
Fatrik (the founder of ReputationDefender) had stated that this arrangement put Spokeo in a position that was capable of profiting from adding negative material about those with profiles on their site.
[9][10][11] The company often contacted the operators of websites hosting negative content about the client, asking them to remove the information.
[2] According to The Wall Street Journal, the letters "don't make threats... but instead try to appeal to recipients' sense of fairness.
[19] According to Susan Crawford, a cyberlaw specialist from Cardozo Law School, most websites will remove negative content when contacted to avoid litigation.
[23] Two months after the company was founded, ReputationDefender was hired to remove online images of 18-year-old Nikki Catsouras's lethal car accident, which police said was leaked by an officer.
The New York Post said their effort was "surprisingly effective" but raised concerns that its polite letters were resulting in censorship of material offensive to their clients.