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Guide
Last updated October 15, 2026
Look at how many of these opt-outs actually work. Spokeo won't remove your listing until you click a confirmation link it emails you. BeenVerified sends a verification email, then a second email once the record is actually gone. TruePeopleSearch emails you a link to the real opt-out form, and it reportedly expires after 24 hours. You can't finish most of these without an inbox you're willing to check.
Which raises an odd question: whose inbox should that be?
You're asking a data broker to stop holding your information, and the first thing most of their forms ask for is an email address tied to you. That address usually ends up stored somewhere on their side, whether or not the opt-out itself succeeds. If the point of the exercise is to hand out less of your information, starting by handing over the inbox you use for banking and work doesn't fit.
There's a practical angle too. Opt-out confirmations get caught in spam filters more often than regular mail, because the sending domains and subject lines look a lot like the marketing email your filters are already trained to catch. If those links land in a folder you never open, the opt-out just stalls. A dedicated address you check specifically for this project is easier to keep clean.
You don't need anything elaborate. An alias through your existing email provider, a free second account on whatever service you already use, or a dedicated address from a provider built for aliasing all work. The only real requirements are that you can receive mail at it and that you'll actually check it over the next few days while opt-outs are pending.
A few things worth doing when you set it up:
Pick a name that doesn't tie back to your real identity through pattern alone, the way firstname.lastname does. Turn notifications on, or at least check it daily for the first week after you submit a batch of opt-outs, since several of these forms work on a short clock. FastPeopleSearch and USPhoneBook also route confirmation through email, and guides for both mention links that don't stay valid indefinitely.
Keep the address around after you finish the current round of opt-outs. Several sites, Spokeo and BeenVerified among them, say directly that listings can come back as new public records get added, which means you'll want a working inbox the next time you recheck.
A separate email address only changes what you hand a data broker when you ask it to remove you. It doesn't stop the broker from having found your name, address and phone number in the first place, usually from public records, and it doesn't do anything for listings that don't require an email to remove, like forms asking for a phone number to verify by call. It's one small piece of a longer process, not a replacement for working through the opt-out checklist site by site.
If you want to see what shows up in search results beyond the sites you're actively opting out of, Google's Results about you tool is worth setting up alongside this. It can flag new pages that mention your contact details even after you've cleaned up the big listings.
Open the opt-out checklist →