Free guide · Updated October 20, 2026

Take your family's information off people-search sites.

A name and a city can be enough for a stranger to find a home address, a phone number and the names of relatives. You can ask these sites to remove a listing. It's free, it takes patience, and it's worth doing for every adult in the family, including your parents.

General information, not legal or security advice.

Why this matters

People-search sites collect details from public records and commercial data sources and publish them as searchable profiles. A profile can show current and past addresses, phone numbers, age and relatives. Scammers can use the same listings to sound convincing, for example by naming a family member or the street you live on.

Removing a listing doesn't make you invisible. It makes you harder to find with a quick search, and it removes one easy source of detail for someone trying to impersonate you or a relative.

Name: Margaret Example, age 68, Anytown
Current address: 100 Example Street, Anytown
Phone: (555) 010-0100
Relatives: Daniel Example, Susan Example
Past addresses: 3 earlier addresses

Before you start

Set up a separate email address for opt-outs. Many sites send a confirmation link, and you don't want those mixed into your main inbox.
List the names to check. Full names, maiden names, nicknames and every city you've lived in, for each adult in the family.
Ask before you act for someone else. If you're checking on a parent, tell them first. Something like: "Can I see whether your name and address show up on people-search sites? I'll only look. I won't change anything without your okay."
Start with the big sites. Good first list: BeenVerified, CheckPeople, ClustrMaps, Dataveria, Intelius, MyLife, Nuwber, PeopleFinders, PublicDataUSA, Radaris, Spokeo, ThatsThem and Whitepages.
Use a private browser window and set aside a couple of hours for the first round.

The steps, as a checklist

Who is this checklist for? (optional)

0 of 6 steps done. Your progress is saved in this browser only. We never see it.

Search the way a stranger would. Search each name with a city, then check the 13 sites above. For every site that shows a profile, copy the address of that profile page. Check spelling variants and older addresses too.
Find the site's own opt-out page. The free Big Ass Data Broker Opt-Out List, maintained by a volunteer, gives an opt-out link for each site. Its author warns that links change, so if one fails, search for the site's name plus "opt out" and use the page on the site's own domain. Opt-outs are normally free. Watch for look-alike sites that ask for payment.
Submit the request with the profile address. Give only what the form requires. If a site asks for a government ID or a payment, stop and check you're on the real opt-out page.
Confirm and keep proof. Click the confirmation email if one arrives. Save a screenshot and note the date and site in a simple list.
Check again in a few weeks. If a profile is still showing, send the request again.
Put a recheck on the calendar. These sites refresh their data, so a removed profile can come back. Privacy Guides suggests rechecking every 3 to 4 months.

If you live in California

California runs a free state service called DROP, the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform. You confirm you're a California resident and submit one request, and it goes to more than 600 registered data brokers. Since August 1, 2026, brokers must check DROP at least every 45 days. Your status can take up to 90 days to update, and results vary. Read about DROP on the state's site.

What this won't do

It won't remove you from every data broker. There are many, and new ones appear.
It doesn't erase public records, such as property or court records, that some sites copy from.
It won't stop all spam calls. Fewer listings can mean fewer targeted calls, but it isn't a call blocker.

Do it yourself, or hand it off

Option	Cost	Trade-off
Do it yourself	Free	Hours at first, a bit more at each recheck. You control exactly what gets sent.
Pay a removal service	About $20 to $385 a year	You pay every year and give a company your details. In a 2025 university study of four services, they cleared 23% to 77% of records. Details.

We do pay for one: here's what Cloaked has done for us. Or compare four services on Tools compared. Company sites: EasyOptOuts · Cloaked · Aura · Optery.

Some of these links may earn SnapNuvo a commission. How that works.

Sources

We haven't tested these opt-outs site by site. The steps and results come from these sources, read October 14, 2026: Privacy Guides, data removal services; Big Ass Data Broker Opt-Out List; California Privacy Protection Agency, DROP.