For those of you who have opted out of Spokeo in the past, well, you might find that you are once again back in their database. Not only that, they have made it more difficult to remove your information.

"Spokeo respects your privacy, and you can easily opt out of Spokeo’s public search if desired. Please note that since the information aggregated by Spokeo is publicly available, opting out of Spokeo does not remove the information from its original sources, which are hundreds of additional websites. You can remove the search results derived from performing any Name Search, Reverse Phone Search, Reverse Email Search and Username Search here.

To remove your Name/Phone/Email/UsernameListing(s):

1. Locate the listing to remove (for name listings, please select the state, city, then exact profile match)
2. Copy the URL (the URL can be found on the top of your browser and should look something like “http://www.spokeo.com/search?q=Smith...9812367″)
3. Go to www.spokeo.com/privacy
4. Paste the URL
5. Provide your email address (this acts as a verification process for the confirmation to be sent to your Inbox) and Captcha Code (Image Verification Code)
6. Check you Inbox for the confirmation email, and click on the link on the bottom to complete the removal process.
7. The directory listing will become flagged and will be removed within 1 business day.

If you are seeing any error messages, please see below for the solution to some common issues:

Incorrect URL
- Please ensure that you click on the exact profile that contains your address. Correct URLs typically end with numbers. Example: http://www.spokeo.com/search?q=Smith...ple:1219812367

Incorrect Captcha Text
-Type in the code provided exactly how it shows. Before you type in the code, make sure that all other fields are correct. Try using different browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

“In order to prevent abuse, we must limit the frequency of privacy requests. Please try again later.Government officials please use your @.gov email address for priority processing.”
- Spokeo understands your privacy concerns, and provides a convenient way to remove your listings from public searches. However, this feature has been abused before, so in order to prevent spammers, bots and others from removing hundreds of listings at a time, all users are allowed to remove a limited number of listings each week per IP address. If you are seeing this error message at work, your limit may already be exceeded by other co-workers who are also trying to remove their listings. Our servers will read the requests as coming from the same IP address since multiple people are trying to remove listings from the same location. Please wait to remove your listing from your home computer, or try again the next day.

If you require further assistance removing your listing(s), please contact Customer Support."

Right. Spokeo respects my privacy so much that I'm back on their site after having my information removed once already. I especially like the part of the removal process where I am required to include my current email address. Federal Trade Commission anyone?