Knowing how to opt out of data brokers is basic digital hygiene. Your name, home address, and phone number could be up for sale right now.
California has just handed its residents a free shortcut, while everyone else still has some solid options. Here’s what works, what it costs, and why you’ll need to keep at it.
How to opt out of data brokers: A practical guide
Removing your personal information from data brokers protects more than your privacy — it helps protect your safety by making it harder for strangers to find your home address, phone number, and family details. Opting out won’t erase every trace of your information online, but it can make you harder to locate and target for stalking or harassment.
It’s also important to protect your privacy. Removing your data helps restore control over who can access and profit from information about your life. These companies compile scattered details into profiles and sell them to others, often without your knowledge; opting out helps limit that exposure.
The practical benefits can mean less spam and fewer scams. It means less unwanted marketing when your contact information is no longer being sold to marketers; and fewer casual searches by strangers, dates, coworkers, or acquaintances looking for your address, phone number, or family connections.
Why do so many data brokers have my data?
Data brokerage is big business. The data broker market is estimated at $294 billion in 2025, and is projected to grow to $450 billion by 2031, according to Mordor Intelligence, a market research agency.
Data brokers get personal information from a mix of public records, businesses, online sources and other brokers — often without interacting with you directly. Think public records, commercial transaction logs, court documents, app tracking and web scraping. That’s exactly why so many of them have your data.
Also, some businesses sell details of purchases, website registrations, contests, and even warranty forms.
Data brokers often aggregate this information to build a detailed profile. Separate details from each source may reveal little on their own, but brokers often combine them into a much more detailed profile of your life.
Which data brokers should I opt out of first?
Start with the higher-visibility names. These include Whitepages, Spokeo, TruthFinder, Radaris, MyLife, and BeenVerified, which also covers PeopleLooker and Ownerly. Then tackle bigger aggregators like LexisNexis and Acxiom.
How can I remove myself from data brokers? The manual, free opt-out process
The DIY route is completely manual and costs nothing but time. The first thing you need to do is find your listing on each site and look for the “Do Not Sell My Info” link in the footer. Next, submit the form and verify it by email.
Also, keep a record of every submission date, as you’ll probably want it later.
The first step is also the hardest. Many brokers don’t make their records searchable, meaning you won’t easily find those listing by hand.
Note: There are hundreds of known data brokers operating in the United States, but there isn’t a definitive total. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse identified 750 unique data broker groups in an April 2025 analysis of state registration records.
State laws and California’s DROP tool
State privacy laws give you more leverage. California’s CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), Virginia’s VCDPA (Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act), and Colorado’s CPA (Colorado Privacy Act) all matter in this case. California goes the furthest with its Delete Request and Opt-out platform, or DROP.
DROP is free to use. Once you submit your details, it sends out a removal request that reaches every registered broker, including those who register later. Brokers then have to check DROP every 45 days and report the status of each request.
In August this year, DROP passed 500,000 sign-ups, with CalPrivacy claiming 654 brokers are already in the system. Brokers have had to start processing requests since August 1, and about 25% had already reported doing so by late August.
The agency says the typical user has been removed by more than 40 brokers, and those who fail to delete will face fines of $200 per request, per day. Moreover, they also have to keep a list of deletion requests so data stays deleted.
But DROP does have its limits. Only California residents can use it, and it only covers registered brokers. That means it may not be able to erase all of your personal information online.
If you don’t live in California, most of your work is manual. And that’s where paid tools can earn their keep.
Manual vs. automated removal
Doing it yourself does cost less, but takes more time. Paid services like Incogni, DeleteMe and Optery cost money but save time, have wider coverage, and also rescan.
A frequent advertiser on Cult of Mac, Incogni sends removal requests to 420-plus data brokers on your behalf, including private-database brokers that don’t have their records searchable. These are the ones you won’t find easily.
It also resubmits removal requests automatically. Incogni says that happens every 60 days for people-search sites and 90 days for other brokers.
Incogni covers brokers across the United States. That helps if you live outside California or happen to appear on sites outside DROP’s registry. Available on Unlimited and higher plans, its Custom Removals feature reaches other types of sites as well.
The free Exposure Scanner tackles the slowest manual step: finding your listings. It works by searching the web for sites listing your details and gathering them in one place. You also have the option to choose which results to send for removal.
Then there’s the new Privacy Score, which works much like a credit score. It’s basically a single number that reflects your current exposure and removal progress, and updates every 30 days.
Incogni also points to an independent Deloitte assessment as of August 6, 2025. It confirmed the 420-plus broker coverage recurring request cycles and that the company does not sell customer data.
Incogni’s one-year subscription saves you 50%. Individual plans start at $7.99 per month, with a Family plan for up to five adults starting at $15.99. For U.S. users, Incogni Protect adds identity protection from partner Coveron for $20.74 per month, billed annually.
Save 58% off annual plans through mid-December using code CULTOFMAC.
Do data brokers re-add your information?
Yes, brokers usually reharvest public records, meaning profiles tend to reappear. Treat opting out as routine maintenance, not a one-time cleanup.
Even California’s rules assume this. That’s exactly why brokers must keep checking DROP and keep a list of deletion requests, so your data stays that way over time.
Are data brokers legal, and how long does an opt-out take?
Data brokers are a legal business in the United States, though states are increasingly regulating them. But the timing varies by broker. Some people-search sites take a day or two, while bigger aggregators can take weeks. Under DROP, brokers get only 45 days to report each request’s status.
Keep opting out on your calendar
Start with the free route, add DROP if you happen to live in California, and set a reminder to recheck every few months. A service like Incogni can handle this tedious task of chasing brokers and is a realistic way to stay off the lists.
Anurag Chawake is a tech-focused writer specializing in smartphones, apps and consumer technology. His interest in computers began during the Windows 98 era, eventually leading him to explore everything from operating systems to mobile devices and PC hardware. Anurag previously contributed to The Indian Express, covering Apple, Android, gaming and the broader technology landscape.
