The 50-Site Opt-Out List Every American Should File This Year
Real opt-out URLs for 50 data brokers, people-search sites, and ad networks — plus what each one knows and how long removal takes.
When the California Privacy Protection Agency's annual registration window closed on January 31, 2026, more than 500 companies had registered as data brokers under the California Delete Act (CPPA). And that's just the ones who self-disclose in one state. The actual ecosystem is bigger — and most of them will happily delete you if you ask. The problem is that asking requires filling out 50 separate forms, sometimes with ID verification, and then doing the whole thing again two months later when your record gets refreshed from the underlying public sources.
One-sentence answer: You can DIY-remove yourself from the major US data brokers using the URLs below, but expect to spend a full weekend on the initial pass and another half-day every 60–90 days to handle relistings.
TL;DR
- Verified opt-out URLs for 50 of the biggest US data brokers, grouped by category.
- Most people-search sites remove you in 24–72 hours. Marketing brokers take 30–45 days.
- About one-third require email verification. A few want a photo ID. We flag which.
- Removals are not permanent — brokers re-pull from public records and rebuild your profile. Plan to repeat every 60–90 days.
- If a weekend a quarter is too much, use a service.
Before you start: three things that save hours
1. Use a dedicated email address for opt-outs. Many brokers want verification — that email will get hammered. Use an alias or a throwaway account.
2. Have a piece of mail handy with your current address. Some brokers (LexisNexis, CoreLogic) require a notarized form or an ID upload before they'll process a deletion.
3. Search your name on Google first. Note which of these sites actually appear for your name. That tells you where to prioritize. If you want a primer on the people-search ecosystem, our piece on why Spokeo and Whitepages keep bringing you back explains how that whole category churns.
Category 1: People-search sites (the visible top of the iceberg)
These are the sites that show up when someone Googles your name. They get their data from public records (court filings, voter rolls, property records) plus commercial sources. They're the most visible category and usually the fastest to remove.
| # | Broker | What they know | Opt-out URL | ID needed? | Removal time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spokeo | Address, phone, family, age | spokeo.com/optout | No | 24–72h |
| 2 | Whitepages | Address, phone, age, relatives | whitepages.com/suppression_requests | Phone verify | ~24h |
| 3 | BeenVerified | Address, phone, social, records | beenverified.com/app/optout/search | Email verify | 24–48h |
| 4 | Radaris | Address, employer, social | radaris.com/control/privacy | Email verify | ~48h |
| 5 | MyLife | Reputation score, age, address | mylife.com/ccpa/index.pubview | Email verify | 7–10 days |
| 6 | Intelius | Address, phone, criminal records | intelius.com/opt-out | Email verify | 72h |
| 7 | PeopleFinder | Address, phone, family | peoplefinder.com/optout.php | Email verify | 24–72h |
| 8 | PeopleFinders | Address, age, relatives | peoplefinders.com/opt-out | Email verify | 24–72h |
| 9 | Pipl | Identity resolution profile | privacy@pipl.com (email request) | Yes, ID | 14–30 days |
| 10 | ThatsThem | Address, email, phone, IP | thatsthem.com/optout | No | 5–7 days |
| 11 | FastPeopleSearch | Address, phone, age | fastpeoplesearch.com/removal | Email verify | 24–72h |
| 12 | TruePeopleSearch | Address, phone, family | truepeoplesearch.com/removal | Email verify | 24–72h |
| 13 | USPhonebook | Address, phone, age | usphonebook.com (footer link) | Email verify | 48h |
| 14 | Nuwber | Address, phone, social | nuwber.com (search and remove) | Email verify | 24–48h |
| 15 | PeopleSmart | Address, phone, relatives | Owned by BeenVerified — same opt-out | Email verify | 24–48h |
| 16 | PeopleLooker | Address, phone, criminal | Owned by BeenVerified — same opt-out | Email verify | 24–48h |
| 17 | InstantCheckmate | Background reports | instantcheckmate.com/opt-out | Email verify | 48h |
| 18 | TruthFinder | Background reports | truthfinder.com/opt-out | Email verify | 48h |
| 19 | USSearch | Address, age, family | ussearch.com/opt-out | Email verify | 72h |
| 20 | CheckPeople | Address, phone, age | checkpeople.com/opt-out | Email verify | 48h |
| 21 | Zabasearch | Address, phone | Owned by Intelius — same opt-out | Email verify | 72h |
| 22 | Smartbackgroundchecks | Background reports | smartbackgroundchecks.com/optout | Email verify | 48h |
| 23 | PublicDataUSA | Address, phone | publicdatausa.com/remove.php | Email verify | 48h |
| 24 | InfoTracer | Court records, address | infotracer.com/optout | Email verify | 5–7 days |
| 25 | SearchPeopleFree | Address, family | searchpeoplefree.com (footer) | Email verify | 48h |
A 25-site category. Don't try to do all 25 in one sitting — break it into chunks of five. Each one wants a tiny variation on the same form.
Category 2: Marketing data brokers (the invisible middle of the iceberg)
These are the heavyweights — the ones building real consumer profiles for advertisers. They don't show up in Google searches because they don't host public people-search pages. They just sell you. Removal here is slower and more bureaucratic, but it cuts off a much bigger data flow.
| # | Broker | What they know | Opt-out URL | ID needed? | Removal time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Acxiom (LiveRamp) | Demographics, household, purchase | isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx | No | 30 days |
| 27 | LiveRamp | Identity graph, ad targeting | liveramp.com/privacy/my-privacy-choices/ | No | 30 days |
| 28 | Epsilon (Publicis) | Purchase history, demographics | explore.epsilon.com/preference_center | No | 30–45 days |
| 29 | Experian Marketing | Marketing targeting profile | experianmarketingservices.digital/OptOut | No | 30 days |
| 30 | Oracle Data Cloud (BlueKai) | Ad-tech profile, cookies | datacloudoptout.oracle.com | No (cookie-based) | Immediate |
| 31 | TransUnion Marketing | Demographics, household | transunion.com/consumer-privacy | No | 30 days |
| 32 | Equifax Marketing | Income, purchase signals | equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-marketing-opt-out/ | No | 30 days |
| 33 | Neustar (TransUnion) | Identity resolution | transunion.com/consumer-privacy | No | 30 days |
| 34 | InfoUSA / Data Axle | Consumer + business records | infousa.com/contact/data-removal-request/ | No | 30 days |
| 35 | Towerdata (Webbula) | Email-keyed profiles | privacy@webbula.com | Email request | 30 days |
Category 3: Risk and credit-adjacent brokers (the deepest layer)
These brokers feed banks, insurers, landlords, and employers. They are NOT consumer reporting agencies for credit scoring purposes (those are the Big Three), but their files are used in many of the same decisions. They take longer to process and often require a notarized form or photo ID.
| # | Broker | What they know | Opt-out URL | ID needed? | Removal time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | LexisNexis Risk Solutions | Court records, address history, professional licenses | optout.lexisnexis.com | Yes, notarized form | 30 days |
| 37 | CoreLogic (Cotality) | Property + rental history | privacy@corelogic.com (CA residents) | Yes | 10–30 days |
| 38 | Innovis | Credit file (4th bureau) | innovis.com/personal/optOutOptIn | No | 5 days |
| 39 | Equifax pre-approved offers | Pre-screened credit offers | optoutprescreen.com | No | 5 days |
| 40 | ChexSystems | Banking history | chexsystems.com | Yes | 5 business days |
A note on this category: you may not want to fully remove yourself, because legitimate businesses use these files to verify you're a real person. But the prescreened-offers opt-out at optoutprescreen.com is universally a good idea — it covers all four credit bureaus in one form.
Category 4: Search engines and big-platform privacy controls
Removing the underlying data is one thing. Hiding it from where most people will actually see it — Google — is another. These tools don't remove anything from the original source; they just suppress the result.
| # | Platform | What it does | Tool URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | Google "Results About You" | Removes phone, email, address, IDs from Search results | myactivity.google.com/results-about-you |
| 42 | Bing Content Removal | Same idea, Microsoft's version | bing.com/webmaster/tools/content-removal |
| 43 | DuckDuckGo (proxies Bing) | Removed Bing results disappear here too | (no direct tool — propagates from Bing) |
Google expanded "Results About You" in February 2026 to flag search results containing driver's license, passport, and Social Security numbers (Google). Use it.
Category 5: Social platforms and discoverability
Your social profiles ARE data broker inputs — they get scraped, indexed, and resold. Tightening discoverability shrinks the supply.
| # | Platform | Setting | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 44 | LinkedIn (public profile) | Turn off public visibility | linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a518980 |
| 45 | Facebook (lookup) | "Who can look you up by email/phone" set to Friends | facebook.com/settings → Privacy |
| 46 | Instagram (search) | "Private account" toggle | instagram.com (Settings → Privacy) |
| 47 | X / Twitter (discoverability) | "Let others find you by email/phone" off | x.com/settings/discoverability |
Category 6: Voter and address records (the structural ones)
You can't truly remove yourself from voter rolls or property records — those are governmental public records. But there are two narrow paths.
| # | Program | What it does | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | DMAchoice (Junk Mail) | Opts you out of member direct-mail | Anyone, ~$5 for 10 years (DMAchoice) |
| 49 | National Do Not Call Registry | Opts you out of telemarketers | Anyone (donotcall.gov) |
| 50 | Safe at Home (state ACPs) | Substitute address for survivors of DV, stalking, sexual assault, trafficking | DV/SA/stalking survivors; admins differ by state — California's program at sos.ca.gov/registries/safe-home |
Most states run an Address Confidentiality Program for survivors. California's Safe at Home program, established in 1999, lets eligible participants use a substitute mailing address that state, county, and city agencies must accept (CA Secretary of State). New York, Illinois, Washington, and most other states run similar programs.
What you can do today
- Block out a Saturday. Six hours, minimum. Coffee, a playlist, two screens if you have them.
- Start with Category 1 (people-search sites). Those are the ones friends, recruiters, and stalkers actually find. Fastest wins.
- Submit the universal prescreened-offers opt-out at optoutprescreen.com — five minutes, covers all four credit bureaus, lasts five years.
- Set a calendar reminder for 60 days from now. Brokers re-add you from public records. Removal is a recurring task, not a one-time event.
- Pair this with the broader shrink-your-digital-footprint weekend checklist so you're not just cleaning up — you're also reducing what gets added next.
The CTA
This is genuinely a part-time job. That's why services exist. Leak Check Me's privacy agent scans the major broker sites, helps prepare eligible opt-out actions, and patrols for relistings on a continuous loop — you handle one $20 scrub mission instead of fifty forms. The reason this post is so long is because we want you to know exactly what you're paying us not to do. If a weekend a quarter sounds like fun, you don't need us. If it sounds like a tax, run a free leak check at leakcheckme.com and see what's actually exposed first.
Why this list isn't the pillar piece on why leaks happen but the link is the risk: because opt-outs are necessary but not sufficient. Filing 50 forms reduces your data broker surface area. It doesn't address the underlying truth that brokers will keep rebuilding from sources you can't remove. The fight is structural; this list is tactical.
Sources
- California Privacy Protection Agency — Data Broker Registry
- Google — Stay in control of your personal information online
- California Secretary of State — Safe at Home
- DMAchoice — Mail preference service FAQ
- optoutprescreen.com — Joint CRA prescreened-offers opt-out
- LexisNexis — Information Suppression Request
- Innovis — Opt-Out
- Acxiom — US Consumer Opt Out
- Epsilon — Preference Center
- Oracle Data Cloud — Opt Out Registry
- Spokeo — Opt Out
- Whitepages — Suppression Requests
- BeenVerified — Opt Out