Remove Your Data from People Search Sites

I remember the first time I Googled myself and saw my old address, phone number, and even the names of my relatives listed on a site I’d never heard of. It felt invasive—like someone had cracked open my front door just to show the world what was inside. The weird part? I hadn’t done anything wrong. I just existed in the age of data brokers.

If you’ve ever done the same thing, you know that uneasy feeling. You type your name in, hit search, and suddenly a list of sites you’ve never signed up for have your information displayed like a digital résumé you never consented to. Sites like Whitepages, Spokeo, MyLife, and TruthFinder all collect bits and pieces of public data, merge them, and sell access to anyone willing to pay a few bucks. That includes your home address, phone number, age, and sometimes the names of your family members. The first time you see it, it feels like a privacy nightmare.

Here’s the good news: you can request removal. The bad news is that it’s not one click. It’s a process—and depending on the site, sometimes it’s a bit of a grind. But once you understand how the system works, you start to see it less like a war and more like maintenance, like taking out digital trash before it piles up again.

The Federal Trade Commission explains that data brokers collect and sell consumer data often without direct consent (FTC Report on Data Brokers). That includes the companies behind most people search sites. They justify it by saying the data is “publicly available”—pulled from voter registrations, property records, or social media. Technically true, but context matters. Just because something is public doesn’t mean it should be easy for anyone to find.

I started with the biggest offenders. Whitepages, Spokeo, BeenVerified, and TruthFinder all have opt-out pages, though they don’t make them easy to find. I remember trying to remove myself from Spokeo the first time—I had to copy a profile URL, enter my email, confirm a link, and wait for approval. It felt like trying to unsubscribe from spam that kept finding me again.

Each site works a little differently. Whitepages lets you paste in your profile link and confirm removal through an email verification. Spokeo asks for a direct profile link too. BeenVerified requires you to search for your own record on their opt-out form and verify through email. And TruthFinder makes you confirm by phone or email depending on the record type. It’s repetitive, but after doing it a few times, you start to develop a rhythm.

One thing I learned fast: never pay a service to do this for you. There are “reputation” companies that charge hundreds to remove your info, but most of them use the same free opt-out tools anyone can access. You’re basically paying them to fill out forms. Unless you’re managing a public figure’s digital footprint or hundreds of records at scale, you can handle this yourself in an afternoon.

What makes this harder is that new data brokers pop up all the time. Removing your info from one site doesn’t delete it from the source. The data often flows downstream from large aggregators like LexisNexis, Acxiom, and Oracle Data Cloud. They feed smaller people search companies, who then repackage the same records. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has a list of known data brokers and their removal options if you want to dig deeper.

And yes, the process can feel endless. You remove yourself from ten sites and find your info on three new ones next month. I’ve been there. But over time, you start to notice patterns. Some sites automatically honor previous requests once they update their databases. Others never really delete, just “suppress.” They hide the data from public view but keep it stored internally. The California Attorney General’s Data Broker Registry shows which companies sell or license personal data and whether they offer opt-outs under state law. It’s worth checking out even if you don’t live in California, because many of these companies operate nationwide.

I’ve also found that using a throwaway email for opt-outs helps. Once you start submitting requests, you’ll notice an uptick in spam. Some removal sites quietly share your email with partners, so it’s safer to use a separate inbox. There are services like ProtonMail or Firefox Relay that let you create aliases for this purpose.

The most frustrating moment for me came when I thought I’d finished. I’d spent two hours submitting removals and checking confirmations. Then, a week later, my information popped back up on another site I’d never seen before. It had scraped my data from a cached version of one of the old listings. That’s when I realized the truth: privacy online isn’t a finish line. It’s upkeep. You don’t do it once and forget it. You do it regularly, like cleaning out a junk drawer.

The FTC’s privacy guide suggests setting a reminder every few months to review what personal info appears online. It’s not paranoid—it’s proactive. You can also set up Google Alerts for your name, phone number, or address to get notified when they appear on new websites.

After a while, it stops feeling like a chore. It becomes a quiet form of control in a system built on exposure. You start to realize that your privacy isn’t about disappearing—it’s about choosing what stays visible. I still Google myself every so often. When I see my old address missing, I don’t feel hidden. I feel balanced. Present, but not exposed.

And if you’re reading this thinking it’s too late to start—trust me, it’s not. The first time you submit a removal request and see your information vanish from one of those sites, you’ll feel it. Relief. Like closing a window that’s been open for too long.

Useful resources if you want to take control of your data:

So yeah—start small. Pick one site, remove yourself, and watch how good it feels. It’s a quiet kind of freedom, knowing your name isn’t being traded like a product. You can’t erase your past, but you can reclaim your presence. One form at a time.