[2] Spokeo was founded in 2006 by four graduates from Stanford University — Mike Daly, Harrison Tang, Ray Chen, and Eric Liang.

[4] On November 5, 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.

It purports to know, among other things, one's income, religion, spouse's name, credit status, the number of people in the household, a satellite shot of the house and its estimated value.

The site allows users to remove information about themselves through an "opt-out" process that requires the URL of the listing and a valid email address.

[13] Larry Ponemon has raised concerns about the general practice of gathering personal data and the potential for identity theft.

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] 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 Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) — the first FTC fine involving personal data collected online and sold to potential employers.

Relying on an amicus curiae brief filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in support of Robins, Judge O'Scannlain determined that publishing even flattering inaccuracies could harm a jobseeker.