This is the practical guide. No background theory — just the exact URL, the exact steps, and what to expect for each of the 18 largest data broker sites on the internet.
Total time if you do all 18 in one sitting: approximately 4–5 hours. We recommend doing them in batches of 5 over a week.
Each opt-out below has been tested as of 2026. If a site has changed its process since publication, leave a comment and we'll update the guide.
Direct URL: spokeo.com/optout
Time required: 8 minutes
What to do: Search for your profile on Spokeo first. Copy the URL of your profile. Paste it into the opt-out form. Enter your email. Click the verification link Spokeo emails you. Removal typically completes in 1–3 days.
Direct URL: whitepages.com/suppression-requests
Time required: 10 minutes
What to do: Click 'Get started' on the suppression page. Search for your name. Find your record and click 'Remove this listing'. Verify via phone call (Whitepages will call you with a code). Enter the code. Removal completes in 24 hours.
Direct URL: beenverified.com/app/optout/search
Time required: 7 minutes
What to do: Search for yourself. Click 'Proceed to opt out' on your record. Enter your email. Click the verification link emailed to you. Removal completes in 1–2 weeks. Note: BeenVerified shares data with PeopleLooker, NumberGuru, and others — but opting out of BeenVerified opts you out of all of these.
Direct URL: mylife.com/ccpa/index.pubview
Time required: 12 minutes
What to do: This is the most painful opt-out. Submit a 'Do not sell' request. Wait 5 days. Submit a 'Delete my information' request separately. Call their support line (888-704-1900) if your request hasn't been honored after 14 days. MyLife has been the subject of multiple FTC complaints — be persistent.
Direct URL: intelius.com/opt-out/submit
Time required: 6 minutes
What to do: Fill out the form with your name and email. Click the verification link. Removal completes in 72 hours. Intelius opt-out also removes you from PeopleLookup, ZabaSearch, and 40+ related sites in their network.
Direct URL: radaris.com/control/privacy
Time required: 15 minutes
What to do: Search for your profile. Click 'Control this Profile'. Enter your phone number for verification. Enter the SMS code. Click 'Make Private' on each profile that matches you. Note: Radaris often shows multiple profiles per person — you may need to remove 2–5 separate listings.
Direct URL: truthfinder.com/opt-out
Time required: 8 minutes
What to do: Search for yourself. Verify via email. Wait 24 hours for removal.
Direct URL: peoplefinder.com/optout.php
Time required: 5 minutes
What to do: Email opt-out form. Provide name, address, DOB. Removal in 7 days.
Direct URL: instantcheckmate.com/opt-out
Time required: 7 minutes
What to do: Search, verify via email link, removal in 48 hours. Same parent company as TruthFinder; one opt-out doesn't cover the other.
Direct URL: peekyou.com/about/contact/optout
Time required: 6 minutes
What to do: Search for yourself, find your profile, click 'Manage my profile'. Submit removal request. Note: PeekYou pulls from social media so it may relist if your social profiles are public.
Direct URL: zabasearch.com (opt out via Intelius — same network)
Time required: Covered by Intelius opt-out
Direct URL: publicrecords360.com/optout
Time required: 5 minutes
What to do: Submit name + state. Email confirmation. 5-day removal.
Direct URL: ussearch.com/opt-out
Time required: 6 minutes
What to do: Standard form. Email verification. 1-week removal.
Direct URL: peopleconnect.us/data-privacy
Time required: 8 minutes
What to do: Submit CCPA request via web form. Process takes up to 45 days per their stated policy.
Direct URL: fastpeoplesearch.com/removal
Time required: 5 minutes
What to do: Find your record, click 'Remove this record', verify via email. 24-hour removal.
Direct URL: checkpeople.com/opt-out
Time required: 7 minutes
What to do: Standard email opt-out. 48-hour removal.
Direct URL: pipl.com/personal-information-removal-request
Time required: 10 minutes
What to do: Submit detailed CCPA request. Pipl is used heavily by professional investigators and background check companies, so this one is especially worth doing.
Direct URL: isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx
Time required: 12 minutes
What to do: Acxiom is a marketing data broker (not a people-search site) that feeds data to many other companies. Opting out here reduces your exposure downstream across many smaller sites you've never heard of.
Three things to expect:
1) Removals typically take 1–14 days. Some sites are faster than others, but legal deadlines under CCPA require completion within 45 days.
2) You'll be re-listed within 3–6 months. This isn't malicious — the data brokers continuously re-harvest from public records. Manual maintenance is necessary.
3) You won't catch everything. There are over 5,000 data brokers globally and roughly 420 active people-search sites. Even the most thorough manual approach covers maybe 5% of them.
If you've made it through all 18 sites in this guide, you've eliminated about 60% of your public data broker exposure. The remaining 40% requires either ongoing manual maintenance or an automated service.
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