People-Search Opt-Out Requirements by Site

Ten companies run the biggest people-search sites, putting your address, phone number, relatives and background records in front of anyone who types your name into a search box. Eight of the ten are laid out in the table below; the other two, and why they're missing, are explained just underneath it. Find your site: the second column shows what each company told the state of California about requests it received, the third shows the actual steps to opt out, and the last links to a full Privacy Unpacked walkthrough where one exists.

How do I opt out of each of the biggest people-search sites?

All of the volume and denial figures below come from each company's filing in California's 2025 data broker registry, which reports requests the company received in 2023. Two sites from the original list of ten are left out of the table rather than filled in with unverified detail. PeopleFinders' entry in the CSV we pulled carries the exact same request figures as a different filer, which means one of those two rows in the source data is wrong, and we won't print a duplicated number as fact. MyLife's filing names only a privacy-policy page, with no self-service removal form found anywhere in this reporting pass. Both sites are worth checking directly if your listing shows up on either.

Site	Company & 2023 registry filing	How to actually opt out	Our guide
Spokeo	Spokeo, Inc. (filing also covers freepeopledirectory.com, peoplewin.com, thatsthem.com); 3,817,446 opt-out requests (31,754 denied), 23 deletion requests (0 denied), per the registry CSV	Two separate routes per the filing: CCPA sale opt-out at spokeo.com/privacy/control or by phone at 1-877-864-0183; a different general public-listing opt-out tool at spokeo.com/optout, also reachable by email or mail, per Privacy Unpacked's site-by-site list	Full list guide
Whitepages	Whitepages.com; 51,427 opt-out requests (126 denied), 5,083 deletion requests (495 denied), per the registry CSV	Online request at whitepages.com/privacy/ccpa — the filing lists this exact page and no phone or mail option, per Privacy Unpacked's site-by-site list; the process takes about 10 to 20 minutes depending on how much information is listed	Full list guide
BeenVerified	BeenVerified; filing covers 12 sites including peoplelooker.com, ownerly.com, neighborwho.com and reversephone.com; 502,683 opt-out requests (174,052 denied), 27,988 deletion requests (120 denied), per the registry CSV	Form at beenverified.com/svc/optout/search/comprehensive_optouts; needs an email and CAPTCHA, then a confirmation link that expires after 48 hours; the company says it processes most requests within 48 hours, though one outside test took about seven business days; each matching profile must be opted out separately	BeenVerified opt-out guide
Intelius	Intelius; 638,138 opt-out requests (0 denied), 26,933 deletion requests (1,502 denied), per the registry CSV	No simple "opt out" button — the route runs through the PeopleConnect Suppression Center, reached via a footer privacy-center link; requires an email, full name, date of birth, and a code sent to a phone or email already tied to the record (no ID upload); Intelius allows itself up to 48–72 hours to process a suppression; also reachable at (877) 564-3253, weekdays 7am–4pm Pacific	Intelius opt-out guide
TruthFinder	TruthFinder; 622,653 opt-out requests (0 denied), 35,834 deletion requests (3,236 denied), per the registry CSV	The company's help center asks, "Would you like to suppress your name and public information from the TruthFinder website?" and routes requests to its Suppression Center, which needs full name, date of birth, and a verifiable phone or email; one submission also covers Intelius, Instant Checkmate and USSearch, but not Zabasearch or Classmates.com; phone line (855) 921-3711, weekdays 7am–4pm Pacific	TruthFinder opt-out guide
Instant Checkmate	Instant Checkmate; 378,173 opt-out requests (0 denied), 21,499 deletion requests (2,191 denied), per the registry CSV	Same shared PeopleConnect suppression tool as Intelius and TruthFinder: email confirmation link, then name, date of birth and a verifiable phone or email; no account or payment required	Full list guide
Radaris	No matching entry in California's 2025 registry CSV — no filer, volumes, or registry-named rights page found for Radaris	On your profile page, click "Remove My Information," paste the profile URL, submit, then confirm via an emailed link, per a published walkthrough; claimed 24-hour turnaround	Manual opt-out guide
FastPeopleSearch	Filed by Mississippi Tornado Alley LLC; filing covers 10 sites including usapeoplesearch.com, smartbackgroundchecks.com and cyberbackgroundchecks.com; 2,124,418 opt-out requests (120,649 denied), 1,905 deletion requests (0 denied), per the registry CSV	Deletion request form at fastpeoplesearch.com/removal; no account required	Full list guide

What should I do first?

Start with the row for the site where you actually found your listing, not a generic search tool. Use the exact form named in the middle column for that row, keep the confirmation email until the link in it is clicked, and expect a follow-up code sent to a phone or email already tied to your record for several of these sites, as described in Privacy Unpacked's site-by-site opt-out list. If your listing turns up on a lesser-known site you don't recognize — usphonebook.com, ownerly.com, peoplesmart.com — check the table first; several of those sites are filed under the same company and contact page as one of the sites above.

What does each site require to delete or suppress my listing, and how do these steps differ?

The forms vary more than the companies' shared ownership suggests. BeenVerified's registration covers twelve separate websites, including peoplesmart.com and reversephone.com, but every one of them routes back to a single comprehensive opt-out page, according to its registry filing. FastPeopleSearch's filer, Mississippi Tornado Alley LLC, lists ten sites under one registration, including usphonebook.com and advancedbackgroundchecks.com — the filing covers all of them under this single company.

Intelius, TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate all run on the same underlying PeopleConnect suppression tool, which asks for a full legal name, date of birth, and a verification code sent to a phone or email already associated with the record — no government ID upload is required in that web form. BeenVerified's separate form instead relies on an email address and CAPTCHA, with a confirmation link that expires after 48 hours, and requires a fresh submission for each matching profile if more than one listing turns up under your name.

Every company in this table also draws a line between "opt out" and "delete" that matters for what you actually get back. Opting out generally stops a site from selling or sharing your data going forward; deletion asks it to remove what it already holds, and the registry asks companies to report both figures separately each year. None of the registry filings promise a specific removal timeline, and this tracker doesn't invent one. For a broader strategy beyond these sites, see Privacy Unpacked's guide to getting data brokers to delete your data, or the step-by-step manual opt-out guide for sites, like Radaris, with no registry filing to point to.

What do California's official filings show about removal?

The registry numbers show just how differently these companies handle requests. Spokeo received 3,817,446 opt-out requests in 2023 against only 23 deletion requests, according to its registry filing — most people contacting Spokeo are asking it to stop selling their data, not erase what it already holds. BeenVerified denied 174,052 of its 502,683 opt-out requests that year, the highest denial count of any site in this table, while Intelius and TruthFinder both reported denying zero opt-out requests out of hundreds of thousands received, per the same filings.

One row carries no registry numbers at all, and it's worth saying why rather than guessing. Radaris has no matching entry in California's current registry, which is maintained by the California Privacy Protection Agency and now absorbs registrations the state Attorney General's office used to handle on its own — without a filing, there's no official record of how Radaris treats deletion requests.

Is there a one-stop deletion tool for all these sites?

Yes. California's registry page states that "Starting in 2026, you may submit a request to the Agency to delete your non-exempt personal information held by all data brokers, rather than contacting them individually," through a tool called DROP. According to CalMatters, DROP launched January 1, 2026, is open to any California resident, and delivers privacy instructions to every registered broker at once; registered companies must begin processing those requests in August, after which "companies have 45 days to process requests and 90 days to report back on how they handled requests," and can face financial penalties if they don't. Identity is verified either through the state's California Identity Gateway, using information like a Social Security number or address, or through login.gov, a federal system some agencies already use.