BeenVerified is one of several "companies" that sells private information to anyone who is willing to spend a few bucks for it. Some information is made publicly viewable without payment.
They claim they will remove your information if you request to opt out, but they merely re-categorize it, or make it only accessible for a fee rather than publicly displayed via a search engine.
The only reason these companies exist is to assist stalkers, identity thieves and other people who use their service for nefarious reasons.
Serious employers can do a serious background search through serious, reputable channels. Anyone who uses this type of service in order to protect themselves is probably getting outdated, incorrect or incomplete information anyway. Hardly real protection for serious-minded people.
They actually encourage old boyfriends to look up "lost loves" via their service — in other words, any creep out there who wants to stalk a girl, hide in her driveway, follow her home from work, etc., can now easily do so via their website or smartphone app.
Identity thieves can easily invest a few bucks for an account and scour the site for thousands of identities to assume. There's enough sensitive information provided that identity thieves can pretty much wipe you out and wreke havoc in your life for years.
This is who these people are. This is what they do for money. They not only don't offer any way to filter out users who will access your information to do you harm, either financially or physically, they don't WANT to offer such a service because that's pretty much their target audience. They even advertised on Jersey Shore because those are the sort of people they gleefully proclaim as the people they serve.
Not only is your information viewable, but your relative's information is linked to your name. If you have young adult children, they can be stalked using your information.
Write to your Attorney General's office and the Attorney General's office of New York and file a complaint about this company and similar companies. These companies exhibit a blatant disregard for the safety of those whose information they happily sell, and present a serious invasion of privacy. While they claim they use public records, they make it so easy for a criminal to bypass normal security procedures in accessing that info that they are actually aiding and abetting potential criminal activity.
Also, file complaints with the FTC and FCC. Contact your representatives in Washington. It's time that citizens stand up to those who would cavalierly sell their information to all the wrong people just so they can line their pockets.
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