How to Remove Your Information From People-Search Sites

People-search sites — the ones that show up when you Google your own name alongside a listing of your age, past addresses, relatives, and phone number — are one of the most common sources of unwanted personal exposure online. They aren’t hacking anyone; they’re aggregating public records (voter files, property records, court records) and selling access to the compiled profile. The good news is that most of them are legally required to offer an opt-out, and the process is usually free — just tedious, because there are dozens of them.

Why These Sites Exist and Where They Get Your Data

Data brokers pull from a mix of sources: county property and court records, voter registration files, marketing and survey data, social media, and other data brokers they buy lists from. That’s why removing yourself from one site often doesn’t stop another from having nearly identical information — they aren’t all pulling from each other in real time, but they do re-aggregate from the same underlying public records periodically, which is why listings can reappear.

Step 1: Find Where You’re Listed

Search your name in a few formats to locate active listings:

"First Last" city state
"First Last" age
"First M Last"

Keep a simple list or spreadsheet of each site, the URL of your specific profile page, and the date you submit your opt-out — you’ll want this record if a listing reappears later.

Step 2: Opt Out of the Major Data Brokers

Below are commonly encountered people-search and data broker sites. Each has its own opt-out process; look for a footer link labeled “Opt Out,” “Privacy,” “Do Not Sell My Personal Information,” or “CCPA Request.”

Site	Typical opt-out method	Confirmation step
Whitepages	Search your listing, click "Remove Me," verify by phone	Phone verification code
Spokeo	Find your profile URL, submit via opt-out form	Email confirmation link
BeenVerified	Search, find listing, submit opt-out form with listing URL	Email confirmation link
Intelius	Opt-out page, enter listing URL or details	Email confirmation
MyLife	Opt-out request form or support email	May require follow-up
Radaris	Find profile, use "Control Profile" / removal form	Email or identity check

This is a representative sample, not an exhaustive list — new data broker sites appear regularly, which is why ongoing name monitoring (see Step 4) matters more than a single cleanup pass.

Step 3: Keep Records and Expect a Waiting Period

Most sites take anywhere from a few days to about a month to fully process a removal, and some require email or phone confirmation partway through — don’t skip that step, or the request won’t complete. Save confirmation emails; if a listing resurfaces, having proof of a prior opt-out speeds up a repeat request.

Step 4: Set Up Ongoing Monitoring

Because brokers re-scrape public records, a single round of opt-outs is rarely permanent. Realistic options for staying ahead of new listings:

A recurring calendar reminder (quarterly is reasonable) to re-search your name
Google’s Results about you tool, which can alert you to new search results containing your contact information
A dedicated monitoring or removal service, if you’d rather not repeat the manual process yourself — see considerations in our guide on choosing a reputation management service

Step 5: Know Your Legal Rights

Depending on your state, you may have a statutory right to request deletion of your personal information from data brokers:

California (CCPA/CPRA) gives residents the right to request deletion of personal information held by many businesses, including data brokers, and California also runs a centralized Data Broker Registry and the DELETE Act, which — once fully implemented — is intended to let residents submit one deletion request that reaches all registered brokers at once.
Other states, including Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and several others, have passed their own consumer privacy laws with similar deletion rights; coverage and process vary by state.

If a broker doesn’t honor a legitimate opt-out request within a reasonable timeframe, these statutes give residents of applicable states a basis to escalate.

A Realistic Timeline

Removing yourself from the most visible 15–20 data broker sites typically takes a few hours of active work spread across a few weeks (accounting for confirmation delays), not a single afternoon. Think of it as the first pass of an ongoing process rather than a one-time fix.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will removing myself from these sites stop people from finding any information about me? No single step achieves that. These sites are one source among many — court records, social media, and news coverage remain separately searchable. This process specifically reduces data-broker exposure.

Do I have to pay these sites to be removed? No. Legitimate opt-outs are free. Be wary of any site that asks for payment to remove your own listing — that’s a signal to escalate through a formal privacy-law request instead where available.

Why did my listing come back after I opted out? Brokers periodically re-import public records. A returning listing doesn’t mean your original opt-out failed — it usually means the broker re-scraped source data and regenerated a profile.