How to Remove Yourself From People Search Sites

If you've searched your own name and found your address, phone number, relatives' names, and age sitting on a site like Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, or TruePeopleSearch, you've found a "people search" site. These sites sell profiles built from data most people never agreed to hand over directly. Getting a listing pulled down is possible on nearly all of them, but it isn't a single button, and none of them promise it's permanent. Here's what each major site's own opt-out process asks for, how long it takes, and where the law does or doesn't back you up.

How do people-search sites get my address and phone number in the first place?

They don't ask you. According to the FTC's guide to people search sites, these sites build reports by buying information from other data brokers, pulling from social media profiles that are public or viewable by everyone, and compiling data from federal, state, and local government public records.

None of that is illegal for a company to do. Property deeds, marriage licenses, and voter rolls are public records in most states, and a business is generally free to compile and resell what's already public. That's the starting point for everything below: opting out is something these sites choose to offer, not something you can force nationwide, except where a specific law says otherwise.

Which people-search sites let you opt out, and what's the process for each?

The table below covers the opt-out mechanics that are actually documented, either on the site's own opt-out page or in a timed, published walkthrough of that page. Intelius, MyLife and other commonly cited brands run opt-out pages of their own, but we couldn't confirm their current forms or processing times, so they're left out here.

Site	What the form asks for	Verification step	How long it takes	Will it come back?
Spokeo opt-out	Find and select your own listing through Spokeo's opt-out page, then submit the removal request	Not detailed beyond submitting the request itself	No set removal window published on the page	Spokeo warns that "your information may reappear on Spokeo in the future without notice" as it receives new public records, per Spokeo
Whitepages standard opt-out	Locate your listing and submit the standard suppression request through the on-page flow	None described beyond that flow	About 10 to 20 minutes to complete, depending on how much information is listed, per Security.org's timed walkthrough	Doesn't touch Whitepages' separate "Premium" listings, which hold more sensitive data, and removed information can be re-added as Whitepages updates its database, per Security.org
BeenVerified opt-out	Select "Proceed to Opt Out" on your matching profile; repeat separately for each profile if more than one matches	Enter an email address, then click a confirmation link before it expires in 48 hours	BeenVerified processes most requests within about two days, though full removal took roughly seven business days in Security.org's test	One opt-out also clears you from BeenVerified's affiliated network, including PeopleLooker, NeighborWho, and Ownerly, per Security.org
TruePeopleSearch opt-out	Use the "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" link, which sits at the bottom of the TruePeopleSearch homepage only, not on other pages of the site	Confirmation email (check spam if it doesn't arrive); the link must be clicked within 24 hours or the request expires, per Security.org	No published processing time; the 24-hour confirmation window is the only clock stated	TruePeopleSearch's opt-out page doesn't say
California data brokers via DROP	One verifiable request submitted through the state's Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform, covering every registered broker at once	State-run verification (mechanics not detailed on the page)	Registered brokers must check the tool "at least once every 45 days" and process requests, starting August 1, 2026, per CPPA	Applies only to California residents, and only to brokers registered with the state

Note the last column: not one site promises the listing is gone for good. California's Delete Act is the outlier, because it forces registered brokers to re-check a state-run list every 45 days rather than leaving removal to the company's goodwill.

How long does a people-search opt-out actually take to work?

Filling in the form and getting the listing down run on two different clocks. Whitepages' form takes 10 to 20 minutes to work through, but that's submission time, not removal time. BeenVerified says it handles most requests in about two days; the listing in Security.org's test took roughly seven business days to clear. Spokeo publishes no timeframe at all. And watch the confirmation emails: TruePeopleSearch's link expires after 24 hours, BeenVerified's after 48, and a missed click means starting the request over.

Budget more than one sitting if you're clearing several sites at once. Each one runs its own form, its own email confirmation, and in BeenVerified's case, a separate opt-out for every matching profile if more than one shows up under your name.

Do I need to check back after opting out, or is it permanent?

None of them is one-and-done. Spokeo tells users outright that removed listings "may reappear on Spokeo in the future without notice" as it takes in new public records, per Spokeo's opt-out page, and Security.org found the same at Whitepages: manual removal is no guarantee the listing stays gone while the database keeps updating.

The FTC's advice matches: check the sites periodically, and if new information about you shows up, submit another opt-out request, per the FTC. None of the sites here commit to one shared recheck schedule, so treat it as a recurring task rather than something you finish once. A quarterly calendar reminder is a reasonable habit given how the sites describe their own re-population of data.

Is it even legal for these sites to publish my personal information?

Largely, yes, because the underlying data is public. These sites compile data from federal, state, and local government public records along with publicly viewable social media content, per the FTC, and public records are, by definition, not confidential. That's why opting out is voluntary cooperation from the site in most states, not a legal requirement, and why sites will let you suppress things like your address or phone number but not other categories, such as sex offender status, per the FTC.

California changes that for a specific category of business. The CPPA defines a data broker as a business that knowingly collects and sells the personal information of consumers it has no direct relationship with, and under the state's Delete Act, businesses that fit that definition must register with the state, per the CPPA. Starting August 1, 2026, those registered brokers must check California's deletion tool at least once every 45 days and process consumer deletion requests, with a small number of exceptions written into the law, and a single verifiable request filed by a consumer is supposed to "direct every data broker that maintains any personal information related to that consumer" to delete it, per the CPPA. That's a state-backed deletion mechanism, not just a courtesy form, but it currently applies specifically to brokers registered with California and specifically for California residents.

Outside a law like that, opting out has real limits everywhere else. Removing yourself from a people-search site won't necessarily clear your name from a relative's, neighbor's, or associate's report, and if your underlying public records change, your information can resurface for sale again, per the FTC.

Should I pay a removal service or do it myself?

The FTC lists both routes as legitimate: handle each site's form yourself for free, or pay a company to submit the requests for you, per the FTC's guide. If you only have a handful of listings to clear, the free forms above take minutes to submit per site, even if the confirmation and processing take longer. A paid service mostly buys you the time of filing those same forms repeatedly across many sites, not access to a faster or more thorough removal than the site itself offers.

If your goal is just to clear the sites that show up when someone searches your name, start with the free opt-out forms for the sites you actually find, and set a recurring reminder to check again in a few months. For the wider question of clearing your data from data brokers beyond the people-search category, our full guide to getting data brokers to delete your data covers that ground in more detail.