Data broker removal

TL;DR. Do the opt-outs yourself with Yael Grauer’s “Big Ass Data Broker Opt-Out List” (hosted at inteltechniques.com/workbook.html and mirrored at easyoptouts.com). Free, canonical, updated. Pay a removal service only if your time is worth more than the one-weekend DIY cost — then pick DeleteMe, Kanary, or Incogni. No affiliate — we don’t earn on anything here; the DIY list is free and the paid services’ affiliate deals come with pressure to rank by commission, which we refuse.

What this category protects

Every public-records scrape on WhitePages, Spokeo, BeenVerified, Intelius, Radaris, MyLife, TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch, and 200-odd clones. These sites publish your current and former addresses, age, phone numbers, email addresses, relatives’ names, sometimes partial SSN or DOB, and a “background check” upsell. Opt-outs work; they have to be filed at every site individually and re-filed periodically because brokers re-ingest from county records.

Broker data feeds adjacent risk: stalking, doxxing, SIM-swap targeting, loan-fraud pretexting, harassment. It also correlates with the rest of the tracking graph — a broker record bridges federated-login state and the third-party cookie graph. Removing it raises the cost of reaching you from “Google search” to “actual effort.”

This just works: Easy Opt-Outs (DIY)

Yael Grauer’s free workbook at inteltechniques.com/workbook.html and the mirror easyoptouts.com. Step-by-step instructions per site — submit the form, email the address, or send the certified letter in a handful of cases. A weekend project the first time. What you give up: a weekend. And realistically a second weekend six months later, because brokers re-ingest after a while.

The DIY approach works because you control which brokers get your attention. The list distinguishes “scraper” brokers (re-ingest from public sources — permanent removal is impossible, only suppression for N months) from “primary” brokers (actually own the data — can be permanently removed). The paid services don’t always surface that distinction, which makes the “we removed N records” headlines feel better than they are.

Alternatives

• DeleteMe — paid removal, ~$130/yr individual. Targets the biggest ~30 US brokers. Genuinely removes listings; quarterly report shows what was cleaned. Good fit for US users with no time.
• Kanary — similar to DeleteMe, sometimes better pricing, stronger per-broker transparency. List mostly overlaps.
• Incogni — Surfshark’s offering, bundled with Surfshark VPN. Wider list (200+) but less thorough per broker. Good value if already on Surfshark.
• Optery — free tier surfaces where you appear; pay for the removal step. Similar US focus.
• Mozilla Monitor Plus — partnered with Onerep until the Krebs on Security 2024 disclosure that Onerep’s founder ran people-search sites himself. Ethical posture compromised; Mozilla ended that partnership later.

Comparison matrix

Option	Scope	Recurring	Scraper vs opt-out	Price	Manual fallback
Easy Opt-Outs (DIY)	US + international (workbook lists both)	No (you re-run)	Distinguishes scraper from primary	Free	You are it
DeleteMe	US primarily	Yes (quarterly)	Mostly primary brokers	$130-$330/yr	Manual list supplemented
Kanary	US	Yes	Mostly primary brokers	$150/yr	Similar to DeleteMe
Incogni	US + EU	Yes	Broader list, less thorough	$90/yr (or bundled with Surfshark)	Lighter follow-up
Optery	US	Yes (paid tiers)	Mix	Free / $40-$250/yr	Depends on tier
Mozilla Monitor Plus (Onerep)	US	Yes	Uncertain	$11/mo	Onerep ethics compromised (2024 disclosure)

Common mistakes

• Paying a removal service and stopping there. The service removes what it finds. Brokers outside their list don’t get touched. The DIY workbook covers the long tail; at minimum, run it once even if you pay a service.
• Expecting permanent removal. Most brokers “suppress” rather than delete — the record is hidden for 6-12 months, then a re-ingest from county records puts it back. Removal is an ongoing maintenance task.
• Using a removal service then publishing new records. Real WHOIS, $200+ political donations (public under FEC), buying a house, registering a car — all re-add entries. Use mail-forward, LLC intermediaries, keep the cycle going.
• Submitting opt-outs from a dirty email. Some brokers add the opt-out email to their records. Use an alias per opt-out.
• Missing state-specific paths. CCPA, VCDPA, CPA, CTDPA grant stronger delete rights. Cite the law; compliance rates rise.
• Skipping voter registration as a source. Many brokers pull voter rolls; Ohio and Florida are especially egregious.

Setup

Opt out of data brokers guide walks through the workbook flow, shows the letter templates, and tracks which brokers respond to which channels.

Related categories

• Email — use an alias for every opt-out submission; breached alias = burn it.
• Temp numbers — burner numbers keep your real line out of future broker ingests.
• Breach monitoring — the downstream alert when broker data leaks get dumped.