| Symbols | Meanings |
|---|---|
| ☠ | high priority |
| 🎫 | requires driver’s license (cross out your ID #!) |
| 📞 | must pick up a (gasp!) phone |
| 📠 | must go back in time and find a fax machine |
| 📫 | must use snail mail |
| 💰 | site charges money for access or removal (whaaaat?) |
Please send corrections or updates to yael.grauer@gmail.com.
Disclaimers: Some of these opt-outs take a long time to go through. Sometimes, information is pulled from other sources and you’ll need to opt out multiple times for the same site. Data brokers come and go (and are bought out by others), and they also often change their opt-out pages. I try to update this ~every six months, but it’s not always current. Finally, even opting out of these sites doesn’t mean that your address is secure. In many states, real estate data and voter registration information is public (or easy to obtain). And, of course, location data can be found by physical means (e.g., following you home) and through other people who know it (i.e., social engineering). That said, removing your home address from data broker sites can significantly lower your attack surface and make it harder for people to find it. 💕
If you've been doxed, you can remove your contact info from Google Search and Bing.
[https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/9554939?hl=en] (https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/9554939?hl=en) [https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/concern/bing] (https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/concern/bing)
It is hard to find your own info for free, but you can opt out here:
https://isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx#section8 (U.S.)
https://isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx#section7 (non-U.S.)
https://isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx (info)
If you don’t have an email address, call (877) 774-2094 and follow the prompts.
Remove your data here:
https://www.advancedbackgroundchecks.com/removal
To find your information, you must sign up for a free trial here:
https://www.archives.com/search/ancestor/checkout(and then cancel)
Opt out here: http://www.archives.com/?_act=Optout
Find your information and opt out here:
https://www.beenverified.com/app/optout/search
Opt out of property search here:
https://www.beenverified.com/app/optout/address-search
Find your information and opt out here:
https://www.checkthem.com/optout/. You will receive a link via email you’ll need to click on to complete the process.
If you have a free membership, opt out or control information that’s posted here:
https://www.classmates.com/siteui/account/privacy, owned by Intelius.
Or, cancel your free or paid membership following the instructions here:
https://help.classmates.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002224171-How-can-I-cancel-my-membership-
Find your information here: [https://clustrmaps.com/] (https://clustrmaps.com). To remove it, go here: https://clustrmaps.com/bl/opt-out. It will ask you for a mailing address, but doesn’t seem to verify them. It will then ask you to check off anything associated with your account that you want removed.
Find your information here:
https://www.dobsearch.com/people-finder/. Then hit "manage my records" and opt out. You will need to supply your number and email address and provide text or email confirmation. Info here: https://www.dobsearch.com/people-finder/pf_manage_help.php
Search for yourself and remove your information here:
https://www.familytreenow.com/optout
Look for and remove your information here:
https://www.fastpeoplesearch.com/removal
Find your information and out here: https://www.idtrue.com/optout/
Find your information here:
You can opt out by filling out this form: https://www.infotracer.com/optout. You can also mail in this form: https://members.infotracer.com/tspec/shared/assets/data_opt_out_form.pdf or by faxing it to 1-617-933-9946.
Find and remove your information here:
https://www.instantcheckmate.com/opt-out/
Find your information here: https://www.intelius.com. Opt out here: https://www.intelius.com/optout. (Intelius owns Addresses.com, Addresssearch.com, Anywho, Classmates, DateCheck, InstantPeopleFinder, iSearch, LookUpAnyone, Peopleconnect.us, PeopleFinder, PeopleLookup, Phonesbook, Publicrecords, Spock, Zabasearch, and possibly US Search.)
Find your information here: https://www.mylife.com. Email your removal request to privacy@mylife.com with your name and a link to your profile. MyLife will try to get you to create an account with a copy of your driver’s license to submit a profile removal request, and we’ve received reports that emailing the info@mylife.com or removalrequests@mylife.com email addresses will require a phone call to (888) 704-1900. Previously, calling that number and pressing 2 allowed you to be removed from MyLife (and Wink.com) after providing your name, age, date of birth, email address, current mailing address, and a previous mailing address, but this no longer appears to be the case. (It also appears that you can sign up for a free membership to remove your reputation profile, though not your personal information such as your home address.)
Find your information here: https://nuwber.com/. Enter the URL of the profile page you found and your email address here: https://nuwber.com/removal/link.
Find your information here: https://www.peekyou.com/ , opt out here: https://www.peekyou.com/about/contact/optout. You will need the letters at the end of your profile’s URL in the "unique ID" field. Make sure to check "remove my entire listing." You can also remove your information from the sites that it says it has aggregated information from.
Look up your name here: http://www.peoplebyname.com/people. Or, you can fill in your name in the URL like this: http://www.peoplebyname.com/people/[Last_Name]/[First_Name]. Opt out for each record here: http://www.peoplebyname.com/remove.php
Find your information here: https://www.peoplefinders.com/ and opt out here:https://www.peoplefinders.com/opt-out (includes PublicRecordsNow)
Find your information and opt out here: https://www.peoplesearchnow.com/opt-out
Search for your information here: https://persopo.com/search. Cut and paste the text of it (which is hard to do because of the 1990s site format, but is required by the site) and email it along with your opt-out request tosupport@persopo.com. You can also mail your request to Persopo.com, Attention: Opt Out Dept., 848 N. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 20, Las Vegas, NV 89107. (Opt-out instructions are posted here: http://info.persopo.com/opt-out.html).
Go to https://pipl.com to find your data. Opt out from Pipl at https://pipl.com/personal-information-removal-request. Then, remove your information from any sites it’s aggregated from. You can also email support at [support@pipl.com] (mailto:support@pipl.com).
Look for your info here: https://www.privateeye.com/ Opt out here: https://www.privateeye.com/static/view/optout/. You can also skip the first part and head to the second. This site will also take you to PeopleFinders, so you can opt out of that, too.
Find your information here: [https://www.publicrecordsnow.com/]. Click “opt out” on this form: [https://www.publicrecordsnow.com/static/view/contact/], fill out the form, complete the captcha and send it in.
Find your information here: http://radaris.com. Click on "control information" and "remove information" by clicking on the X next to it or by removing specific listings. You can also privatize your account. You unfortunately need to register to remove information, and are limited to removing six items at a time. (I recommend removing items even if you privatize your account because these settings don’t always stick.) Details are here: http://radaris.com/page/how-to-remove
Unfortunately, you have to pay to search for your information athttps://www.searchbug.com, but you can email support@searchbug.com to ask them to block the display of your personal information from being listed.
FInd your information here: https://www.searchpeoplefree.com/, making sure to search by name, phone number, address and email address: Opt out here: https://www.searchpeoplefree.com/opt-out.
Find your information here: https://www.smartbackgroundchecks.com/. Opt out here: https://www.smartbackgroundchecks.com/optout
Find your information here:http://www.spoke.com/. Find the “people site map” on the bottom, and it’ll take you here (with a different initial at the end, depending on your last name): https://www.spoke.com/dir/people/name/a. Click the links to search for your last name. Then same for your first name. You will get to a results page. Click each name listing, and suppress it by clicking the "Request Removal" link at the bottom of the page, entering the URL in the contact form it takes you to, and providing your email address. You can also email your removal request to feedback@readwritelabs.com. Unfortunately, Spoke’s opt-out page may not be working—its link from the FAQ page is dead.
Find your information here https://www.spokeo.com/search and remove your information by entering the URL of the profile you want removed and your email address here: https://www.spokeo.com/optout
Opt out here: https://www.truepeoplesearch.com/removal.
Find your information here: https://thatsthem.com/, if it shows up, try to opt out here: https://thatsthem.com/optout.
Find and remove your information at https://www.truthfinder.com/opt-out/. Search for your name, click "remove this record," and fill out the information (your name and email address). You can also send your removal request in the mail to TruthFinder, attn: OptOut, 2534 State St., Suite 473, San Diego, CA 92101. If you find your information after you have opted out, contact Truthfinder at (800) 699-8081 or help@truthfinder.com. (More contact information here: https://www.truthfinder.com/about/#contact.)
Find and remove your information at https://www.usa-people-search.com/manage. The site asks you to wait four hours between opt-out requests.
Find and remove your information here: https://www.ussearch.com/opt-out/submit/.
Look for your number and opt out here:: https://www.usphonebook.com/opt-out/.
Go to VoterRecords.com, find your information, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "record opt-out" link. This will lead to an opt-out form, which you’ll need to submit. You may receive a verification link you’ll need to click on to verify your opt-out request.
Find your information here: https://www.whitepages.com/, and then opt out here: https://www.whitepages.com/suppression_requests
You will need to provide a phone number and enter an opt-out code when you receive the phone call. Opt-out information is available here: https://support.whitepages.com/hc/en-us/articles/115010106908-How-do-I-edit-or-remove-a-personal-listing-. You can also send a request here https://support.whitepages.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. (Including multiple options because these sites have a tendency to disappear.) Sometimes, information is removed from White Pages but not White Pages Premium, so make sure to double-check for your listing. Also, White Pages also owns 411.com, so check for your information there. The opt-out is the same.
(formerly Cubib?) Look up your information at https://www.xlek.com/. Opt out at https://www.xlek.com/optout.php. You’ll need to submit a separate opt-out request for each item you’d like removed
Check to see if your information is on ZoomInfo by filling out this form:http://www.zoominfo.com/lookupEmail. Opt out if it has an email on record—they will email you a code. ZoomInfo appears to have moved towards focusing primarily on business rather than individuals.
If you’re a victim of violent crime or identity theft, it’s often possible to opt out of information that others can’t opt out of. You may, however, need to provide court orders or other information. It may be worth checking more complete data broker lists which include those: https://www.privacyrights.org/data-brokers See this resource: https://nnedv.org/mdocs-posts/people-searches-data-brokers/
, which prevents creditors from accessing your credit report. (It also prevents credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name, but you will receive a pin to unfreeze your credit, if needed.) You will need to provide personal information such as your name, address, date of birth, and social security number to freeze your credit. While you can sometimes initiate this online, it’s better to do it by phone. Fees for freezing your credit vary by state. To freeze your credit, contact:
- Equifax: 1 (800) 349-9960, https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
- Experian: 1 (888) 397‑3742, https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html or https://www.experian.com/ncaconline/freeze
- TransUnion: 1 (888) 909-8872, https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze or https://service.transunion.com/dss/orderStep1_form.page
- Innovis: 1 (800) 540-2505, https://www.innovis.com/personal/securityFreeze or https://www.innovis.com/securityFreeze/index
offered by your state’s motor vehicle department.
to see if they offer privacy options, such as not listing your number on caller ID or allowing you to opt out of sales of phone numbers.
This list, compiled by Griffin Boyce, has a lot of information on doing so: https://github.com/glamrock/data-brokers/blob/master/data-brokers.md. A good place to start is to opt out at the Direct Marketing Association. https://dmachoice.thedma.org/register.php, which costs $2 for 10 years.
Follow the instructions at https://www.optoutprescreen.com/
https://www.donotcall.gov/register/reg.aspx
SageStream LLC: A Data broker that has credit file like information that can sometimes accumulate data about you like DOB, Addresses, Names, SSNs, phones, etc. Has a 5 year opt out and a perm-opt out option. https://www.sagestreamllc.com/opt-out-opt-in/
An information broker who's file can show up on various other consumer reports and cross-checking of other data sources.
https://privacy.infutor.com/privacy/s/optout - Form for all other US-states https://privacy.infutor.com/s/ - Special form for US-California people, requires extra steps
Neustar is a information gathering company that accumulates data similar to Infutor, has a Delete My Data and Opt-Out request, you can also get information about the types of information it carries about you. The website is a little bit glitchy, use incognito mode it also requires a SMS + Email verify to file a request.
https://privacychoices.home.neustar/
DeleteMe, Kanary, PrivacyDuck OneRep, Reputation Defender, and Reputation.com all offer different opt-out services. Of those options, we recommend DeleteMe and Kanary. We do not recommend PrivacyDuck (you can see the Yelp reviews(https://www.yelp.com/biz/privacyduck-west-hollywood-4) and Better Business Bureau complaints (https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/west-hollywood/profile/network-security/privacyduck-1216-649413/complaints) to find out why). In general, note that removal services are not comprehensive, as some data brokers do not allow third parties to remove listings, and removal services do not include every data broker on this list, let alone outside of it.
Doxing: Tips To Protect Yourself Online & How to Minimize Harm (EFF)
Here are the data brokers quietly buying and selling your personal information (Fast Company)
Personal Data Removal Workbook and Credit Freeze Guide (Michael Bazzell)
Preliminary results are in! CCPA testers provide important insights into the landmark privacy law (Medium/Consumer Reports)
*last updated 2/13/21: Updated URLs and removal details for Infotracer, Pipl, PeopleByName and Spoke
12/21/20: removed Addresses.com, Addresssearch.com, Anywho, InstantPeopleFinder, PublicRecords, ZabaSearch, since they’re owned by Intelius. Added some of those names to Intelius. Removed 411 since it linked to WhitePages. Updated Classmates info. Removed extra DOB search link. Updated InfoTracer with fax number, removed phone number. Updated PeopleFinders. Updated USPhoneBook. Removed NeighborReport, since you can’t opt out of address listings. Updated PeopleByName to search by name rather than number. Removed PeopleLooker and PeopleSmart, now owned by BeenVerified. Removed PeopleLookUp and PublicRecords360 now owned by US Search. Removed Phone Detective (now NumberGuru) and Reverse Phone Lookup as there’s no opt-out. Deleted bonus link on PublicRecordsNow. Added U.S. Search. Added cost for DMA opt-out. Added EFF doxing article. Added a recommendation to Kanary.
12/5/20: Updated InstantPeopleFinder, removed PeopleFinder (it probes for information and doesn’t find out much, and is owned by Intelius so that opt-out should work), removed InfoTracer fax number as it was disconnected, added an InfoTracer phone number, updated MyLife removal option, added a recommendation to Paid Removal Options. Updated AnyWho. Moved update info to the bottom of the page.
8/23/20: updated opt-out link for Addresses.com
7/21/20: updated link for Addresses.com
6/17/20: Added SmartBackground Checks
6/14/20: Added BeenVerified property search, SearchPeopleFree address search, added ID True, NeighborReport, Persopo, TruePeopleSearch, US Phone Book, VoterRecords, Xlek, removed Veromi and VerifyThem, which appear to no longer exist.
To add: LexisNexis: optout.lexisnexis.com, https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/request?#california Axciom: https://isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx?#section8 Gravatar? privacypolicyupdates@automattic.com MyLife license requirement?