Data Broker Removal: How to Opt Out of Data Brokers in 2026

What a data broker is (three kinds)

The FTC’s 2014 report, still the reference, defines data brokers as “companies that collect consumers’ personal information and resell or share that information with others.” It studied nine of them and found three kinds of products.

• Marketing brokers sell lists and audience segments. The FTC found one with “3000 data segments for nearly every U.S. consumer.” You rarely see them. Their opt-outs sit in privacy policies and industry portals.
• Risk mitigation brokers sell identity verification and fraud checks to lenders and others. Opting out is limited, because the data is used to confirm who you are.
• People-search sites show your address, age, phone number and relatives to anyone who searches your name. These are the ones with public opt-out forms, and the ones this list covers.

The report also explains why you can’t trace where a profile came from: “Seven of the nine data brokers in the Commission’s study provide data to each other.”

Four states now keep registries, each with its own definition. California’s: “a business that collects personal information about consumers from various sources and sells that information to other companies, even when the consumer did not interact with the business.” Its 2026 file had 603 entries, up from 544 in 2025 (both downloaded 10/08/2026).

Vermont’s law covers businesses that “knowingly” collect and sell “brokered personal information” about consumers they have no direct relationship with (9 V.S.A. § 2430).

Texas registers brokers under Chapter 510 of its Business and Commerce Code, with a $300 fee. Oregon’s registry, under HB 2052, opened on 01/01/2024 and defines a broker as a business that “collects and sells or licenses brokered personal data to someone else.” None of the three prints a total on its page (10/09/2026).

A registry tells you a broker exists and where to send a request. It doesn’t remove anything.

Step 1: Opt out for free, one broker at a time

Each page below is a form we tried ourselves, with what it asks for and where our run stopped.

Site	What the form asks for	Our run	Guide
Whitepages	listing URL, phone call with a code	form to step 1 of 5	Whitepages opt-out
TruthFinder	email, date of birth, code to an email or phone on your record	blocked at the email step	TruthFinder opt-out
Intelius	same PeopleConnect form as TruthFinder; one request covers both plus Instant Checkmate and US Search	blocked at the email step	Intelius opt-out
FastPeopleSearch	email, then a second form	short form sent, second form opened	FastPeopleSearch opt-out
BeenVerified	name, state, email link	no listing for our test identity	BeenVerified opt-out
PeopleLooker	same form as BeenVerified, separate request	no listing for our test identity	PeopleLooker opt-out
PeopleFinders	profile URL and an email address, verification link	Cloudflare check on the form; steps from its archived copy	PeopleFinders opt-out
ThatsThem	one form with seven required fields, including a phone number	Cloudflare check on the form; steps from its archived copy	ThatsThem opt-out
ClustrMaps	email and listing URL, when the form worked	site didn’t load on 10/09/2026	ClustrMaps opt-out
MyLife	profile claim, profile URL, email code, captcha	site didn’t open from our connection	MyLife opt-out

Two free tools reach beyond one site:

• Google’s Results about you asks Google to drop search results that show your address, phone or email. It removes them from Google, not from the sites. Steps are in how to remove your personal information from the internet.
• California’s DROP sends one deletion request to over 600 registered data brokers. Brokers must check it at least every 45 days, and status updates can take up to 90 days. California residents only.

Opt-out rights vary by state. California residents can also use the CCPA “Delete my personal information” request (CCPA, California Attorney General).

If the option isn’t there

Not every broker has a form. The FTC suggests searching the site’s name with “opt out” or “remove my information.” If that fails, look up the broker in the California registry: each entry lists a contact for privacy requests.

Step 2: When doing it yourself isn’t enough

The free route runs into the same three problems on every site: the count, the minutes and the repeat work.

My FastPeopleSearch opt-out took 26 minutes from the first form to the second one, on 10/08/2026. That’s one site. Scaled up, with the same 26 minutes per site:

List	Sites	Hours at 26 minutes each
The 10 people-search sites written up above	10	about 4
OneRep’s published people-search list (10/09/2026)	314	about 136
California’s 2026 data broker registry	603	about 261

Those hours repeat. The FTC warns that your details can reappear when your public records change, and every broker policy we’ve read says the same. Owners on BBB describe listings coming back after a successful removal on PeopleLooker, Intelius and MyLife.

No opt-out or service removes your data permanently. Brokers can list you again from new records, so search for yourself every few months.

Step 3: Use one service that does it for you

A removal service finds your profiles, sends the opt-out requests and repeats them on a schedule. I’d start with Optery, because its free account shows where you appear before you pay anything, and its paid plans start lowest among the published lists.

Create a free account

Optery’s sign-up offers email, Google, Apple or single sign-on. With email, it asks for your name, country, email and a password, then your state, city and year of birth. It didn’t ask for a card, a phone number or a Social Security number on our earlier run (10/08/2026).

Create your free account on Optery’s site:

Create a free Optery accountAffiliate link · how it works →

See where you show up, then pick a plan if you want removals

Our test account’s free dashboard showed 1 matched profile and 404 sites not found or still searching, with 0 brokers covered for removal (10/09/2026). Removals start with Core at $39 a year for 380+ sites (152 named sites, the rest through what Optery calls Expanded Reach). Extended was $149 and Ultimate $249. Core is bot-only, with monthly scans and removals.

Before you pay, know three things. On 10/08/2026 the payment window showed no tax, total or renewal price before a card was entered. Support told us in chat that refunds are full within 30 days.

Optery’s help center says many profiles start disappearing in about a week, and the long tail can take 3 to 4 months. Details in the Optery review, what Optery’s free plan includes and Optery’s pricing.

If you’d rather use another service

Service	Published list (10/08/2026)	Of our 16 people-search sites	Cheapest yearly plan
Optery	944 sites (Ultimate); 152 on Core	13	Core, $39
Incogni	417 sites	10	Standard, $95.88
OneRep	873 sites, 314 of them people-search	15	Individual, $99.95
Cloaked	1,059 entries, 354 data brokers	16	Individual, $119.99
DeleteMe	957 sites, 91 on Standard	10	Standard, $129

OneRep lists the most of our 16 people-search sites among the services with a review. Incogni is the cheapest full-list plan after Optery. DeleteMe adds custom requests and a human team. Reviews: OneRep · Incogni · DeleteMe · best data removal services.

Is it worth paying? See what’s actually free in Optery and the Data Removal Coverage Index for how we count the lists.

See also

• How to remove your personal information from the internet
• Best data removal services
• US Privacy Checkout Test

What we checked

• FTC's 2014 data broker report (PDF): definition, the three product types, the nine brokers studied — read 10/09/2026
• California data broker registry page and its 2026 and 2025 CSV files (603 and 544 entries, counted by script on 10/08/2026); DROP overview at privacy.ca.gov — not submitted, California residents only
• Vermont, Texas and Oregon registry pages: definitions, laws and fees — read 10/09/2026; their searchable databases weren't counted
• Own opt-out runs behind the linked pages: Whitepages, TruthFinder, FastPeopleSearch, BeenVerified, PeopleLooker, ClustrMaps, PeopleFinders, ThatsThem, Intelius and MyLife (10/08–10/09/2026)
• Removal services: published coverage lists of OneRep, Optery, DeleteMe, Incogni and Cloaked (10/08/2026); Optery sign-up and pricing pages and OneRep's list re-opened 10/09/2026, nothing entered
• Where the run stopped: desk review of the FTC report, the California, Vermont, Texas and Oregon registries and DROP; Optery sign-up and pricing pages, nothing entered; no opt-out forms were sent from this page

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