How To Remove Yourself From Data Broker Sites

How Bad Is It For Data Brokers To Have Your Personal Information?

Data brokers and people search sites collect, aggregate, and sell vast amounts of personal information to other businesses, marketers, and even government agencies.

There are several hundred data brokers in the United States alone — and there’s a good chance that every single one has a file containing your personal information.

Here’s why you should care about data brokers storing your personal information:

• Identity theft and scams. Scammers can buy sensitive consumer data from vendors on the open market and use it to impersonate you or run sophisticated scams.
• Spam and junk mail. Marketers can use information from data brokers to fuel their lists.
• Online harassment and stalking. Data broker websites can give anyone quick access to your home address, phone number, and even your place of work.
• Digital reputation abuse. Old, outdated, or even previously deleted online information can be pulled into your data broker files and accessed by family, friends, or coworkers.

While the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) sets guidelines for how data brokers collect and use consumer information, there are plenty of legal grey areas that allow these services to operate without much scrutiny — or limitations.

As the industry grows, it puts the privacy and safety of more and more Americans at risk. But there are options available to help you remove your information from data broker sites.

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How Do Data Brokers Get Your Personal Info?

Data brokers collect personal data by using a combination of scraping tools, online forms, and publicly accessible websites and databases. These data brokerage companies can build detailed dossiers about you — eventually seen on “white pages” or people search websites.

⚠️ Note: You can quickly check if your sensitive information is available online using Aura's free digital footprint checker.

Data broker dossiers regularly contain names, aliases, birthdates, address histories, education information, employment details, marital statuses, bankruptcy information, social media profiles, property records, interests and affiliations, online activity reports, health records, and even details about your family members.

Here are the six most common sources from which data brokers can collect your data:

• Public records are abundant sources of personally identifiable information (PII). Birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce records, arrest records, voter registrations, motor vehicle records, census data, and bankruptcy records hold heaps of personal sensitive data.
• Credit card companies sell customer purchase data and bill repayment details to data brokers. Data brokers aggregate and anonymize this transaction data before reselling it to hedge funds, advertisers, and marketers. 
• Web browser cookies store your information as you use mobile apps, smart home devices, social media accounts, and e-commerce sites. Data brokers may buy website cookies directly from websites and apps that observe your browsing activity.
• Retailers track your information through their websites, loyalty cards, and coupons. Data brokers may use this information to serve personalized ads or to assess your creditworthiness.
• Mobile apps may gather location data, device IDs, and other user information, such as your date of birth, interests, and address.
• Users themselves give companies consent to share data in several ways. When you sign online forms, complete surveys, or join loyalty programs, you may have just relinquished bits of your PII.

In the wrong hands, this private information could be used for criminal purposes — phishing, impersonation scams, or network hijacking. This is especially grim considering that the anonymized data collected can be de-anonymized with 99.98% certainty.

The Four Types of Data Brokers (and What They Do)

To understand how data brokers use and sell your data, here’s a breakdown of the four types of data brokers.

1. People search sites — such as Spokeo, PeekYou, and PeopleSmart — compile vast lists of personal information and market their services as a means to check up on friends and family, perform background checks, or locate customers.
2. Marketing and advertising brokers — such as Acxiom, Epsilon, and Datalogix — sell data for advertising and marketing purposes (for example, using your personal profile to tailor ads to your interests).
3. Risk mitigation data brokers — such as ID Analytics and Intelius — sell information to companies to help them detect fraud. For example, a lender might use a similar data broker to confirm that a potential borrower is indeed who they claim to be.
4. Financial data brokers — including the major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) and smaller ones (CoreLogic and Verisk) — collect data from credit card companies and public records to help companies decide if someone qualifies for a loan.

Needless to say, hackers don’t need to lie in waiting for a data breach to expose individual and company data.

How To Remove Your Information From Data Broker Sites

There are two methods for removing your details from data broker sites:

• Manually search for your listings and follow the broker’s opt-out and data deletion process.
• Sign up for an automated data broker opt-out service (such as the one bundled with Aura’s identity theft protection solution).

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to follow each approach:

1. Complete manual opt-outs from data brokers 

Manually contacting data brokers to request that they remove your sensitive information from their systems is the first option. This method is time-consuming, but it can help.

You’ll need to find your listing on the data broker’s site, and then follow the company’s opt-out process (usually found on pages labeled “Delete Your Information” or “Privacy Requests”). Data brokers have 45 days to respond — but many ignore requests or ask for extensions.

Let's look at the process with a few popular data brokerages:

Removing your data from BeenVerified:

1. Visit BeenVerified’s opt-out website, and search for your listing by entering your name and state.
2. Find your listing, and select the arrow on the right.
3. Enter your email address, and then perform the CAPTCHA.
4. You’ll receive a confirmation email within a few minutes. Select Verify opt-out at the bottom. 
5. Next, you’ll be redirected to BeenVerified’s website to see an opt-out confirmation page. 
6. Your listing should be removed within 24 hours. You’ll receive a final confirmation to let you know that your opt-out has been completed.

Removing your data from Acxiom:

1. Go to Acxiom’s official website. Scroll down to the footer, and select Do Not Sell My Personal Information.
2. Read through the information about the opt-out process and how Acxiom uses your information.
3. Scroll to the bottom, where you’ll find the opt-out form.
4. Complete the form to detail the information that you want to remove from Acxiom’s database. 
5. Select Submit, and then provide a confirmation email.
6. Open your email inbox to view the verification email from Acxiom, and click on the link.
7. Mark the checkbox to confirm I'm not a robot; and finally, select Submit to complete your opt-out request. It can take up to two weeks for Acxiom to process your request.

Note: Not every data broker has an opt-out process, while others have designed extremely convoluted processes that few users can complete. And even if you can, there’s no guarantee that data brokers won’t re-add your information to a new file.

💡 Related: How To Remove Your Personal Information From Radaris (Opt Out Guide) →

2. Use an automated data removal service

While manual opt-outs are free, they take time and constant upkeep to ensure that your data doesn’t remain on a broker’s list. Many data brokers may also require you to give them sensitive data to complete your removal request — such as your full name, mailing address, phone number, and email address. 

Automated data broker removal services — such as Aura, DeleteMe, and Incogni — scan databases of many of the most popular data brokers in the country and send take-down requests on your behalf. While these services cost money, they can save hours of your time (and the associated headaches) that come with trying to do it all manually.

However, it’s important to note that not all data removal services are effective. 

A 2024 Consumer Reports study found that major data removal services — including DeleteMe, Kanary, and Optery — were less effective at removing personal data from people search sites than when users follow a data broker’s manual opt-out process.

For example, the study found that DeleteMe was only able to remove 27% of profiles in a four-month time period, compared to 70% when requested manually.

That’s why Aura takes a more comprehensive approach toward online privacy and safety. 

With Aura, you get automatic data broker opt-outs for over 80 of the largest data brokers, plus award-winning identity and Dark Web monitoring — with data breach alerts, a military-grade virtual private network (VPN), antivirus for up to three devices, scam and phishing site protection, and 24/7 U.S.-based support. 

You can sign up for Aura’s Privacy Protection plan for just $19.99/year (with a 60-day money-back guarantee on all annual plans) →

3. Check for state-level data broker registries

Some states have enacted privacy laws that regulate the data broker industry and force brokerages to provide information on their businesses and contact details to an official registry.

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has a searchable list of all data brokers listed in state registries.

For the most up-to-date information, you can search the few states that have mandated data broker registrations in the past few years:

• California: The State of California Department of Justice website includes a list of data brokers operating in the state. California’s DELETE act — which comes into effect in 2026 — will allow residents to submit automated deletion requests to all registered data brokers in the state for free.
• Vermont: The Vermont Secretary of State website maintains a data broker list — however, you’ll need to sign in or create an account to access it.
• Oregon: You can search the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services for all registered data brokers in the state.
• Texas: The Texas Secretary of State website operates an online registry for data brokers in the state including contact details.

Registries are a fantastic tool for seeing which brokers operate in your state, and how to contact them. But with only four states mandating them, we’re still a long way from controlling the sprawling data collection and selling industry.

The Difference Between Data Brokers and Consumer Reporting Agencies

Data brokers and consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) both collect and process information about consumers. However, there are some key differences.

‍💡 Related: How To Prevent Identity Theft and Its Devastating Effects →

How To Reduce Your Digital Footprint and Protect Your Online Privacy

While the U.S. Constitution prevents the government from accessing your sensitive data without due process, there are few laws that regulate the purchase of such data from data brokers and other similar vendors.

Your best bet is to try to limit the amount of information that is available about you online:

• Scrub your data from Google. Enter your name (and state or occupation) into the search engine, and take note of websites that show sensitive information — including your address, phone number, and email. Request to remove your personal information from Google. Besides the URLs, you will also have to select the reason for your removal request, such as personal information, legal issues, or outdated content.
• Contact website owners about your information. Removing your information from Google searches won’t remove it from the sites that are actually hosting it. To do that, you’ll need to reach out to the site owners and ask them to take it down. Look for contact details on the site’s “About Us” page, or perform a Whois search.
• Use a virtual private network (VPN). Hackers can compromise unsecured public Wi-Fi in hotels, restaurants, and airports. With a VPN, you have an encrypted internet connection to hide your activity when you’re online.
• Delete accounts you rarely use. Whenever you create a new online account, your data is at greater risk of being shared or leaked. Manually revisit old email accounts, e-commerce store profiles, and mobile apps to close them down. In the future, choose guest accounts or email aliases to shop online safely.  
• Scan for leaked passwords. Use Aura’s free data breach scanner to check if your email or any associated passwords have been exposed in data breaches, and scan your phone number on HaveIBeenPwned.com. Update all compromised passwords and consider using a password manager to create and store unique credentials for all of your accounts.
• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA). If an imposter has your password, 2FA will reduce the chance of account takeovers. Set up a biometric scan, or use an authenticator app to add another security layer to your accounts.
• Take action on data breach notifications. In the United States, there is no federal data breach notification law that spans all industries and sectors. Each state or territory, however, has laws governing businesses that own or license computerized data that includes PII.
• Scan your devices for malware. A reputable antivirus software will detect and isolate malicious programs. You can also enable anti-track browser extensions to get peace of mind whenever you browse online.
• Review mobile app privacy settings and permissions. If you have an iOS device, read the app’s privacy policy to see how your data will be used or shared before you download the app. Also, review what permissions the app requests when you first download it.
• Use virtual cards for online purchases. Virtual cards are good for one-time purchases or for shopping with unfamiliar websites and stores. You can also lock virtual cards to a specific merchant, which minimizes the risk of credit card fraud.
• Freeze your credit with all three bureaus. If you spot any warning signs of identity theft, you can prevent fraudsters from opening new accounts in your name by initiating a credit freeze. Request the freeze by contacting each of the three credit reporting agencies individually.
• Remove your name and contact details from direct marketing and telemarketing lists. Submit requests with sites like DMAchoice, OptOutPrescreen.com, and the National Do Not Call Registry to remove your data from unwanted mailing lists.
• Report unscrupulous data brokers. If you believe that a data broker is in violation of privacy rights, submit a report with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

Despite its benefits, the data brokerage industry contains inherent data privacy risks that could expose you to fraud.

If you fall victim to identity theft, scammers could crater your credit score — damaging your standing with financial institutions. Long term, the fraud could harm your chances of getting a loan, car, or job.

Aura offers a proactive solution to safeguard your privacy by removing your data from over 80 data broker sites — and also provides round-the-clock identity and Dark Web monitoring, advanced digital security tools, and 24/7 support.