How to remove yourself from people-search sites

To remove yourself from people-search sites, search for your own listing on each site, submit its opt-out form or email its privacy team, confirm the verification email, and check again a few weeks later. The order matters: some companies run several sites, so one request can clear more than one listing. The FTC puts the starting point simply: "Most people search sites have a way for you to tell them to stop selling your information."

1. Start with the networks

Several well-known sites share an owner:

• Spokeo lists Spokeo.com, ThatsThem.com, AnyWho.com, FreePeopleDirectory.com, PeopleWin.com and Family.me as its names in California's data broker registry. In its 2024 registration Spokeo wrote that an opt-out at spokeo.com/optout "will opt a consumer out from all Spokeo websites except Thatsthem.com," which has its own form. See the Spokeo guide.
• PeopleConnect says it "has several sister sites" and names TruthFinder.com, InstantCheckmate.com, Intelius.com and USSearch.com; its privacy policy refers to a "Suppression Tool". See the Intelius guide.

2. Then the large single sites

Whitepages, BeenVerified, TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch and PeopleFinders are not part of the networks above, so each needs its own request. The FTC notes that an opt-out "may require you to give some information to verify your identity"; our guides record what each site asked for.

3. Search every variant of yourself

Brokers often hold several profiles per person: maiden names, old cities, middle initials. Search each combination and remove every profile that is yours. The FTC also warns that after you opt out, "your information may still appear in the reports of your relatives, neighbors, or associates."

4. Keep records and re-check

Save the confirmation emails and note the date. Check again after 30 days, and then every few months. The FTC says that "if the information in your public records changes, your information could re-appear for sale on people search sites."

Doing it yourself works. In Consumer Reports' 2024 test, manual opt-outs by its researchers removed 33 of 47 profiles, about 70%, within a week, while the seven paid services it tried removed 35% of listings within four months.

When to get help

Doing this site by site takes time, and the re-checks never end. That is the work a removal service takes over. Whatever you choose, ask for proof per site, not just a count of requests.