How to remove your address from the internet

Your home address is online because people-search sites copy it from public records and data brokers, Google indexes those pages, and your own old accounts leak it too. Remove it in this order: people-search sites first, then Google's "Results about you", then shield the public records you cannot delete, then cut off the sources that refill the sites. Property deeds, voter rolls and court filings stay public by design; most states offer an address confidentiality program for people at risk, and that is the route for them. The FTC calls opting out site by site "a time-consuming process", so plan for that and for a recheck every few months.

Where your address is online

Your address lives in five places, and they feed each other.

• People-search sites. Whitepages, Spokeo, BeenVerified, TruePeopleSearch and many more. The FTC says these sites "may buy information from other data brokers, collect information from social media profiles that are public or viewable by everyone, and compile data from federal, state, and local government public records."
• Public records. Property records at the county assessor or recorder, voter registration lists, and court filings. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission says voter lists "are often subject to public records laws". Where the public can see them, people-search sites can copy them.
• Google results. Google does not hold your address, but it makes every page that does easy to find.
• Social and old accounts. Profiles, forum signatures, event pages, a resume PDF, a club roster. Google will not remove information "on a social media page or a personal blog that you own", so those are yours to fix.
• Data brokers behind the scenes. Companies that sell address lists to marketers and to the people-search sites. They rarely show your address on a public page, but they refill the ones that do.

Step 1: people-search sites first

Start with people-search sites because they are what strangers actually see.

The FTC says "Most people search sites have a way for you to tell them to stop selling your information," and that you can "do it on your own, one by one, for free, or pay a service to opt out for you." It also says the opt-out "may require you to give some information to verify your identity." In practice that is usually the link to your listing and an email address. Be careful with any site that asks for an ID document.

Work in families. Several companies run more than one site, so one request can cover several listings. Our guides record what each site asked for and how long it took in our own test:

• Whitepages
• Spokeo
• BeenVerified
• TruePeopleSearch
• FastPeopleSearch
• TruthFinder

The full list is in the people-search category and the data broker directory.

Search every version of yourself: maiden name, middle initial, old cities. Each site may hold several profiles. Save the confirmation emails and note the date.

Then plan the recheck. The FTC puts it plainly: "if the information in your public records changes, your information could re-appear for sale on people search sites." It also warns that "your information may still appear in the reports of your relatives, neighbors, or associates." Check again after about a month, then every few months.

Step 2: Google

Google's "Results about you" tool watches Google Search for your contact details and lets you request removal of results that show them. Google lists the information it covers as "phone number," "home address," and "email address," and it accepts nicknames and maiden names.

Know what it does and does not do. Google says: "When you remove a result that shows your personal info from Google Search, it doesn't mean that the info is gone from the internet... the info still exists on the source web page." Removal takes one of two forms. Either the URL stops appearing in any search, or it "won't appear for search queries that contain your name."

Two limits matter for addresses. Google says it will not remove results from "Educational or government institutions" or "Newspapers" because they hold "info that's valuable to the public." And Google says some of these features are "currently rolling out for users who are over the age of 18 in certain markets."

Google has a separate removal policy for doxxing, which it defines as "when people share your private information to harm you." It applies when a URL contains "Your personal info along with explicit or implicit threats" or "A significant amount of aggregated personal info without a legitimate purpose."

So do Step 1 before Step 2. If the listing is gone from the site, the Google result goes with it. If the site refuses, Google is your fallback for the search result only.

Step 3: public records you cannot delete but can shield

Some sources of your address are public on purpose, and no opt-out form changes that. The FTC says "opting out of people search sites doesn't delete your information from public records."

• Property records. County assessors and recorders publish who owns what. One county's assessor page lists as public information the "owner's name," "property address," "mailing address" and "assessed values," while noting that "Due to privacy concerns owner information is not available online." What goes online varies by county, so look up your own county's page.
• Voter rolls. The EAC says voter registration forms and voter lists "are government documents" and "are often subject to public records laws, which require their disclosure to some individuals." Who may request them and what they contain differ by state.
• Court records. The federal judiciary's privacy policy lists what is redacted from electronic case files: "Social Security numbers, names of minor children, financial account numbers, dates of birth, and, in criminal cases, home addresses." Outside criminal cases, a home address is not on that list. State courts have their own rules.

What you can do is shield, not delete. The EAC says: "Most states also have programs where some individuals can have their information hidden from public disclosure because they are victims of crimes such as domestic abuse. These programs are often known as 'Address Confidentiality Programs' or 'ACP'. Some states have expanded these confidentiality programs to law enforcement officers, certain medical professionals, judges, or other government officials."

California's version, Safe at Home, gives participants a substitute address that "is accepted by California state, county, and city government agencies in lieu of a residential or other mailing address," and participants "can register as a confidential voter." Its eligibility list includes victims of "domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, child abduction, and elder or dependent adult abuse," plus "reproductive and gender-affirming health care providers, employees, volunteers, and patients, and public entity employees and contractors who are in fear for their safety." A state-by-state table compiled by Greater Boston Legal Services and the National Network to End Domestic Violence lists no program for some states, but the table is undated, so check with your own state. Eligibility, paperwork and what the substitute address covers differ by state, so contact your state's program directly.

Step 4: stop the refill

Removal does not hold if the sources keep feeding new copies. Cut the inputs you control.

• Old accounts and profiles. Go through every account that has your address on a public page: shops, forums, clubs, event sites, a resume you uploaded. Delete the address or close the account. Google will not remove pages you control, so this is on you.
• Delivery and ride apps. Saved addresses sit in your account settings. Remove ones you no longer use, especially if you have moved.
• Your own domain. If you registered a website, your name and street may be in the public registration data. ICANN's Registration Data Policy (effective 21 August 2025) says that where redaction is required by applicable law, registrars "MUST Redact" values including "Registrant Name" and "Registrant Street." Look up your domain's public record and ask your registrar about redaction or a privacy service.
• Marketing mail. The FTC says you can register at DMAchoice.org to choose what catalogs and offers you receive; "You'll have to pay a $6 processing fee, and your registration will last for 10 years" ($7 by mail), and "DMAchoice will stop most, but not all, promotional mail." For prescreened credit and insurance offers, the FTC points to optoutprescreen.com or "1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688)" for a five-year opt-out, and a signed "Permanent Opt-Out Election form" for a permanent one.
• Change of address. USPS says its NCOALink product is "a secure dataset of approximately 160 million permanent change-of-address (COA) records" built from filed change-of-address forms, and that it "is provided on a regular basis to companies that have been licensed by the Postal Service." If keeping a new address private matters to you, ask your state's address confidentiality program or a victim advocate how mail works for participants before you file.
• California: one request to many brokers. The California Privacy Protection Agency describes its Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) as "a first-of-its-kind, state-hosted website where consumers can request deletion of all personal information held by multiple data brokers with a single click." The agency says "California consumers will be able to submit delete requests through the DROP starting January 2026," and that "Starting August 1, 2026, data brokers must access the DROP at least every 45 days to retrieve and process consumer deletion requests." That covers registered data brokers, not every website, and it is for California consumers.

If you are in danger

If someone is using your address to find or threaten you, start with people, not forms.

• If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline is at 1-800-799-7233, by text with START to 88788, or by live chat at thehotline.org. The Hotline describes itself as "Free. Confidential. 24/7."
• Ask your state's address confidentiality program whether you qualify. These programs were built for exactly this situation and can cover government records that no opt-out form touches.
• Before you request removals, ask the Hotline, your state's program or the police what records of the pages they want you to keep.

The steps above still apply. Do them with support from the program or an advocate, and ask them about the confidentiality program first.

When to use a service

Doing this yourself works and costs nothing but time. The catch is that the work never ends: many sites, several profiles each, and a recheck every few months because the data comes back. A removal service runs the rounds and re-checks on a schedule. If you use one, ask for proof per site, a screenshot or a confirmation, not just a count of requests sent. Nobody can delete a public record or guarantee that an address never resurfaces, so treat any promise like that as a warning sign.

FAQ

Can I remove my address from public records? Usually not. Property deeds, voter rolls and court filings sit with government offices and are often covered by public records laws. Most states run an address confidentiality program for people at risk; ask your state's program whether you qualify.

Does Google's "Results about you" delete my address from the internet? No. Google says the information still exists on the source web page. The tool removes the result from Google Search, either for all searches or for searches that contain your name.

Does my address stay gone once I remove it? Not by itself. The FTC says that if the information in your public records changes, it can reappear for sale on people-search sites. Plan to check again after about a month and then every few months.

Is there one form that removes my address everywhere? Not for the whole country. California's state-run DROP lets California consumers send one deletion request to registered data brokers. Everywhere else you work site by site.