Data removal guide: how to remove your personal information yourself

Data removal. Updated 2026-09-13. About 5 minutes to read.

Build a list of your listings first, remove the ones showing your home address and mobile number, then re-check every 90 days.

You cannot remove yourself from the internet completely. You can remove most people-search listings, stop Google showing your address and phone number, and slow the flow of new data to brokers. That covers the exposure that most people actually worry about.

Be realistic about time. Plan on four to eight hours for a first pass over the 20 to 25 sites that matter most, spread across a week because confirmation emails and phone codes arrive later. After that, expect about an hour every 90 days, because listings come back.

Where your information actually lives

Removal fails when people treat the internet as one place. Your details sit in at least four layers, and removing a record from one layer does nothing to the others.

People-search sites such as Whitepages, Spokeo and FastPeopleSearch, which publish profiles anyone can look up.
Upstream brokers such as Acxiom, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Epsilon, which sell data to marketers, insurers, landlords and smaller brokers.
Search engines, which index the listings and make them easy to find by name.
Original sources: property and court records, voter files where a state sells them, old forum posts, and accounts you signed up for yourself.

Step 1: Build an inventory before you send a single request

Create a separate email alias just for opt-outs, so brokers never receive your main address.
Open a private browser window and search your name plus city, your name plus any previous city, your mobile number, your personal email and your home address.
Record every listing in a spreadsheet or in the free opt-out tracker: site, listing web address, date found and what it shows.
Mark any listing that shows your home address next to your phone number. Those go first.

Step 2: Opt out of the people-search sites that matter most

Each site has its own process, and the details trip people up. These are the mechanisms you will meet on the big US sites.

Whitepages: paste your listing address into the form at whitepages.com/suppression-requests, then answer an automated phone call that reads you a code. There is no email-only route.
Spokeo: paste the listing address and an email at spokeo.com/optout, then click the confirmation link. Every duplicate listing needs its own request.
PeopleConnect Suppression Center: one request covers Intelius, TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate and US Search, but you must set each brand to suppressed.
BeenVerified: removing yourself there does not remove you from its sister sites PeopleLooker and NeighborWho, so do those separately.
FastPeopleSearch and TruePeopleSearch: find your record, submit it, then confirm by email. The TruePeopleSearch link expires within 24 hours.
Acxiom: use acxiom.com/optout and reply to the confirmation email, or nothing happens. It feeds many smaller brokers, so it is worth the ten minutes.

Step 3: Remove results about you from Google

Go to myactivity.google.com/results-about-you, or in the Google app tap your profile picture and choose Results about you.
Add your name, home address, phone numbers and email addresses so Google can monitor for them.
Review the results it finds and request removal of each one that shows your contact details.
Leave monitoring switched on so new results are flagged when they appear.

Google removal is delisting, not deletion. The page still exists on the broker site, so keep the broker opt-out too.

Step 4: Use the legal levers you have

California residents: the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, known as DROP, lets you send one deletion request to every registered data broker. It opened to consumers on 1 January 2026, and from 1 August 2026 brokers must check it at least every 45 days.
Other US states with comprehensive privacy laws give residents a right to request deletion. Use the broker's privacy request or Do Not Sell form and say which law you rely on.
UK and EU residents: the right to erasure under the UK GDPR and GDPR. A company normally has one month to respond, and you can complain to the ICO in the UK.
Australia: the Privacy Act does not give a general right to have data deleted, but you can ask for access and correction and complain to the OAIC if a company ignores you.

Step 5: Stop the refill

Give loyalty programs, warranty cards and quote forms your opt-out alias and a secondary phone number.
In the US, register at DMAchoice for postal marketing and OptOutPrescreen for prescreened credit offers.
In the UK, opt out of the open electoral register, which can be sold to anyone.
Turn on WHOIS privacy for any domain you own, and set social profiles so your phone number and email are not public.

DIY or a paid removal service: an honest comparison

Doing it yourself costs time, not money, and you see exactly what was removed. A paid service costs money and saves the repeat work. DeleteMe listed its one-person plan at 129 US dollars a year at the time of writing, and LifeLock's standalone plans now include automatic data broker removal every 90 days.

Neither route removes public records, news articles, social media posts or breach data. Most paid services are built around US brokers, so readers in Australia, the UK and Canada get less for the money. Paying makes sense if you have little time, a lot of listings, or a safety reason to stay off these sites. If a first search finds only a handful of listings, do it yourself.

Frequently asked questions

Can I remove my information from the internet completely?

No. Public records, news stories and data already copied in breaches cannot be removed by you or any service. You can remove most people-search listings and delist your contact details from Google, which is the exposure most people care about.

How long does data removal take?

Most people-search sites process a request in 24 hours to a week. Acxiom takes about two weeks. Plan on a week of elapsed time for the first pass, then a shorter check every 90 days.

Why does my information come back after I opt out?

Opt-outs usually suppress a listing rather than delete the underlying record. When a broker loads a new batch of public records or marketing data, a fresh profile can be created. That is why re-checking every 90 days matters.

Is it safe to give a data broker my email address to opt out?

Use a separate alias address. Many brokers require an email to confirm the request, and an alias keeps your main address out of their systems and lets you shut it off later.

Can I remove public records like my property deed or court filings?

Generally no. You can remove the broker listings built from them. Victims of domestic violence or stalking can apply to a state Address Confidentiality Program in the US for a substitute address on new records.