How to Opt Out of Data Broker Sites That Sell Your Info

Data brokers are companies that collect information about you from public records, social media profiles, loyalty programs, and other sources — then compile it into detailed profiles and sell it to marketers, employers, landlords, private investigators, and anyone else willing to pay. Sites like Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, Intelius, PeopleFinder, and RadarOnline typically show your full name, current and past addresses, phone numbers, relatives' names, estimated age, and sometimes even financial information.

This matters because scammers, telemarketers, and robocallers use this data to target you. Stalkers can find your home address. Employers may find information you'd rather they didn't see. The more of your information that's out there, the more opportunities there are for it to be misused.

The good news is that most data broker sites are required by law to honor opt-out requests. The bad news is that there are hundreds of these sites, each with its own opt-out process, and it takes time.

Here's how to opt out of the biggest ones. For Spokeo, go to spokeo.com/optout, search for your listing, click the listing URL into the opt-out form, and submit. For Whitepages, go to whitepages.com/suppression_requests and follow the instructions — you'll need to verify with a phone call. For BeenVerified, visit beenverified.com/opt-out and submit the form. For PeopleFinder, go to peoplefinder.com/optout.php. For Intelius, visit suppression.intelius.com. Many of these require you to verify your request via email.

Expect the removal to take anywhere from 72 hours to a few weeks. Some sites will eventually re-add you as they pull new public records, which is why privacy experts recommend doing a check every six months to a year.

Reducing what you share publicly on social media also helps prevent new data from being added in the first place. Keep your phone number, address, and birthday private on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms.

If you'd rather have someone else handle all of this for you, paid services like DeleteMe (starting around $129/year) and Kanary submit opt-out requests on your behalf across hundreds of data broker sites and monitor for you being re-added. These services are convenient but not free — weigh whether the time savings are worth the cost for your situation.