You private info may be public on sites like Spokeo

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It's not your grandma's phonebook. Spokeo.com is like one-stop-shopping for personal information.

"These companies scrape all this information and send it out to the world," said Craig Agranoff, a social media consultant .

People can find out a person's age, relationship status, address -- all for for free. If you're willing to shell out a couple of dollars, you can find out much more, like income and credit scores.

While it's not always accurate, it's what the site does get right, that has retired law enforcement officer, Andrew J. Scott concerned.

"What' really scary is that, the accuracy lies in addresses in particular. Florida prohibits an officer's name, family names, social security number and address from being made public, yet these sites are doing that," Scott said.

There are ways to remove your information by going to www.spokeo.com/privacy . Agranoff suggests that people remove every email address they've ever used.

"Until the federal government engages in legislation that says these companies must get every individual's permission, or there must be an opt-out, we're going to continue having this problem with the fear that someone is going to find out who you are, where you live. It's very disconcerting," Scott said.

Scott and the social media consultant you heard from have extra tips on how to protect yourself.

For more tips on how to stay safe click here .