Intelius

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American public records business

title: "Intelius" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["internet-properties-established-in-2003", "online-person-databases", "companies-based-in-bellevue,-washington", "privately-held-companies-based-in-washington-(state)", "data-brokers", "2003-establishments-in-washington-(state)", "american-companies-established-in-2003"] description: "American public records business" topic_path: "technology/databases" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelius" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American public records business ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameIntelius
typePrivately held company
genreElectronic commerce
foundationJanuary 2003
founderNaveen Jain and others
locationSeattle, Washington,
United States
key_peopleAbani Heller, CEO & President
area_servedUnited States
industryInformation commerce
servicesPeople Search, Background checks
num_employeesApproximately 150
parentPeopleConnect, Inc.
homepageIntelius.com
::

| name = Intelius | type = Privately held company | genre = Electronic commerce | foundation = January 2003 | founder = Naveen Jain and others | location_city = | location_country = | location = Seattle, Washington, United States | key_people = Abani Heller, CEO & President | area_served = United States | industry = Information commerce | products = | services = People Search, Background checks | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | num_employees = Approximately 150 | parent = PeopleConnect, Inc. | divisions = | subsid = | owner = | homepage = Intelius.com | dissolved = | footnotes =

Intelius, Inc. is an American public records business headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It provides information services, including people and property search, background checks and reverse phone lookup. Users also have the ability to perform reverse address lookups to find people using Intelius’ services and an address. Intelius, founded by former InfoSpace executives, was started in 2003. It is owned and operated by PeopleConnect, Inc.

History

Intelius was founded in 2003 by six former Infospace executives: Naveen Jain, Kevin Marcus, Niraj Shah, Ed Petersen, Chandan Chauhan and John Arnold. Intelius submitted plans for an initial public offering on January 10, 2008, but withdrew in October 2010.

On December 5, 2006, Intelius acquired Bothell, Washington-based IntelliSense Corporation, a background check, fingerprinting and drug screening company. The acquisition of Intellisense eventually became TalentWise. TalentWise was then spun off to Intelius stockholders in May 2013. On April 30, 2009, Intelius acquired Spock, a people-oriented search engine.

In November 2011, Intelius purchased the Facebook genealogy app Family Builder. In 2012, Intelius was renamed "inome" to serve as the corporate umbrella, and the Intelius name was given to the division focusing on background checks. By 2015, inome was doing business once again as Intelius. On July 1, 2015, Intelius was acquired by private equity firm H.I.G. Capital. As part of the transaction, Abani Heller replaced Jain as the company's CEO. On August 12, 2015, PeopleConnect Holdings Inc., bought the social media business Classmates.com for $30 million. The early social media site Classmates.com was created in 1995 to connect school, work and military colleagues.

Information services

Intelius has created an app available for both Android and iOS that allows users to perform people searches, reverse phone lookups and background check services directly from their mobile device.

PeopleConnect operates four people search websites including Intelius.

Class action lawsuits

On September 30, 2009, before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, a class action lawsuit was filed alleging that Intelius automatically enrolled California consumers into programs of its partner, Adaptive Marketing, without permission. The complaint showed evidence as to how the defendants allegedly automatically charged California consumers' credit cards for "memberships" and intentionally frustrated the victims' abilities to dispute the charges.

On October 19, 2009, in the Federal Court in Seattle, Intelius was accused of violating Washington's Consumer Protection Act. In the class action lawsuit Lee v. Intelius Inc., filed by Ohio resident Donovon Lee and Washington resident Bruce Keithly, it was alleged that after purchasing background reports through Intelius, the plaintiffs were each charged recurring $19.95 monthly fees for multiple subscription services which were not requested from both Intelius and its partner, Adaptive Marketing. Plaintiffs sought damages for the Class alleging deceptive practices against Intelius. On March 7, 2013, the United States District Court ruled in favor of the Plaintiff Class. Intelius appealed to the US Court of Appeals (9th Cir.), which on December 16, 2013, also ruled in Lee's [et al.] favor for the Class as follows: "We hold that Lee did not enter into a contract with Adaptive to purchase the Family Safety Report, and did not enter into a contract with Adaptive to arbitrate. We therefore affirm the district court."

After losing this appeal, Intelius sought arbitration with the Plaintiffs and subsequently agreed to two settlements of this lawsuit in favor of the class (one for Mr. Lee and one for Mr. Keithly on different case merits) resulting in a combined $10.5 million settlement for Class Plaintiffs.

Consumer complaints

In 2008 the company discontinued its phone directory services after legal threats and negative press attention focused on allegations that the opt-out process was unreasonably difficult. Among other things, it was also criticized for providing private cell phone numbers.

On September 30, 2009, before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, a class action lawsuit was filed alleging that Intelius automatically enrolled California consumers into programs of its partner, Adaptive Marketing, without permission. The complaint showed evidence as to how the defendants allegedly automatically charged California consumers' credit cards for "memberships" and intentionally frustrated the victims' abilities to dispute the charges. On October 19, 2009, in the Federal Court in Seattle, Intelius was accused of violating Washington's Consumer Protection Act.

Intelius received thousands of consumer complaints regarding post-transaction marketing practices and allegedly deceptive credit card charges. The Washington Attorney General sued Intelius, and a $1.3 million settlement was reached in August 2010. In November 2011 the company announced the inclusion of TrueRep to its services. This program allows consumers to provide explanations for any indiscretions on their records.

References

References

  1. Nina Shapiro. (2007). "Intelius Says it's Capable of Conducting a Full Background Check on Anyone". [[Seattle Weekly]].
  2. "Using Reverse Address Lookups to Find People Online".
  3. (14 August 2015). "Intelius: About Us".
  4. Duryee, Tricia. (Aug 13, 2007). "Cellphone directory grabs your number".
  5. (2005-03-07). "Dot-con job: How InfoSpace took its investors for a ride Part 2 - Cashing Out". [[Seattle Times]].
  6. Julie Vorman. (2008-01-10). "Intelius plans IPO of up to $143.75 mln - SEC filing". [[Reuters]].
  7. (2010-10-15). "Intelius withdraws plans for IPO". [[The Seattle Times]].
  8. John Cook. (2013). "TalentWise spins off from Naveen Jain's Inome with $25M from mysterious backer". GeekWire.
  9. Lisa Hoover. (2009). "Spock sale sparks privacy concerns".
  10. John Cook. (2011-10-25). "Intelius quietly buys Facebook genealogy app Family Builder". Geekwire.com.
  11. Cook, John. (2012-06-10). "Meet Inome: The latest thing to sprout from Naveen Jain". GeekWire.
  12. "Classmates.com Sold for $30 Million".
  13. "Intelius App Google Play Store".
  14. "Intelius - Reverse Phone Lookup & Background Check".
  15. "Opt-out Tuesday: How to remove yourself from US Search". May 31, 2022.
  16. Michael Arrington. (2008). "Naveen Jain's Latest Scam: Intelius". [[TechCrunch]].
  17. Nina Shapiro. (2009). "Internet Wizard Loses His Magic: Intelius Hit with Two Class Action Suits". [[Seattle Weekly]].
  18. [http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/10/intelius_hit_with_class_action_lawsuit.html Intelius hit with another lawsuit as it alters marketing tactics]
  19. "No. 11-35810 - DONOVAN LEE, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated; BRUCE KEITHLY, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. INTELIUS INC., a Delaware corporation v. ADAPTIVE MARKETING LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company".
  20. (12 September 2013). "Intelius Post-Transaction Class Action Lawsuit Settlement".
  21. Suzanne Choney. (2008). "Company shuts down cell phone directory". NBC News.
  22. Svensson, Peter. (February 4, 2008). "Cell-phone directory assistance closing". USA Today.
  23. Alex Johnson. (2008). "Cell phone directory rings alarm bells". NBC News.
  24. [http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/10/intelius_hit_with_class_action_lawsuit.html Intelius hit with another lawsuit as it alters marketing tactics], techflash.com; accessed June 8, 2016.
  25. Chris Grygiel. (2010-08-09). "'Deceptive' Intelius cheated thousands of people". [[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]].
  26. Greg Lamm. (2011-11-15). "Got a blotch on your record? Intelius lets you explain". Puget Sound Business Journal.

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