How to Remove Your Personal Information From the Internet

To remove your personal information from the internet, you send opt-out requests to the data broker sites that publish it — one by one — and then repeat the process every few months because the listings come back. You can do this by hand for free, or you can let the Getshure app send the removal requests for you as part of a protection plan.

This guide walks you through both paths: the manual way, and the easier way. We will also tell you what you cannot realistically remove, so you do not waste time chasing it.

First, what is actually out there?

Search your own full name in quotes on Google, along with your city. You will likely see pages on sites that call themselves "people search" or "background check" services. These are data brokers. They collect public records, social media scraps, old voter files, property records, and purchase data, then publish a profile of you that usually includes:

• Your full name and age
• Current and past home addresses
• Phone numbers (cell and landline)
• Email addresses
• Names of relatives, spouses and roommates
• Employer or job history
• Sometimes approximate income, home value, or political affiliation

This is the information scammers use to sound convincing on the phone. When a caller knows your middle name, your daughter's name and your old address in another state, you are more likely to believe they are from your bank. That is the real cost of being listed.

What you can and cannot remove

Be honest with yourself about this before you start.

You can usually remove: listings on people-search and data broker sites, old forum profiles you control, your own social media posts, and marketing lists (through opt-outs).

You cannot remove: true news articles about you, court records, property deeds, business filings, or anything a government agency is required to publish. You can sometimes get these de-indexed from search results in narrow cases, but the underlying records stay.

The manual method: step by step

If you want to do this yourself, set aside a weekend. It is tedious but not hard.

Step 1: Make a throwaway email

Create a free email address you will only use for opt-outs. Many brokers require you to confirm a removal request by clicking a link. You do not want those confirmations mixed in with your real inbox, and you do not want to hand a broker your primary email.

Step 2: Build your list of brokers

Start with the big ones that show up most often in search results. Common names include Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, Intelius, MyLife, PeopleFinders, Radaris, TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch, and many more. There are dozens of smaller ones. A realistic manual list runs well over a hundred sites.

Step 3: Find each site's opt-out page

Every broker is required to offer a way to opt out, but they hide it. Search for the site name plus the words "opt out" or "remove my information." Do not call the phone number on their homepage — go through their written process so you have a record.

Step 4: Submit the removal request

Most sites will ask you to:

1. Find your own profile on their site and copy the URL.
2. Fill out a removal form with your name, email and sometimes a reason.
3. Confirm by clicking a link in an email.
4. Wait anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for the listing to come down.

Some will require you to mail or fax a form, or upload a redacted copy of your ID. If you upload ID, black out everything except your name — they do not need your driver's license number or photo.

Step 5: Keep a spreadsheet

Track which sites you contacted, the date, the confirmation link, and when the listing actually disappeared. You will need this because the listings come back. Brokers refresh their databases from public records every few months, and your profile often repopulates.

Step 6: Repeat every 3 to 6 months

This is the part most people give up on. Removing yourself once does not keep you off the sites. You have to run the same opt-outs again, forever.

The easier way: let the Getshure app do the removal requests

Our data broker removal feature in the Getshure app does the tedious part for you. Once you sign in and give it your name and the basic details a broker uses to find you, the app sends opt-out and removal requests to people-search and data broker sites on your behalf and keeps sending them on a schedule.

A few honest points:

• Each broker decides whether and when to remove a record. No tool can force them.
• Some sites comply quickly. Some drag their feet. Some re-list you a few months later, which is why ongoing requests matter.
• You can also use the app's breach check to see if your email or passwords have appeared in known data breaches, and Photo Guard to find where your photos show up online.

Data broker removal is included in Getshure protection plans. New plans are $9.99, $29.99 or $79.99 today depending on the plan, then $29.99 every 30 days until you cancel. You can cancel in one step at any time, and every charge is covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Learn more about the app in The Getshure App: What It Does and What It Can't Do. On Android, you can see the app on Google Play. On iPhone, use the download link in your Getshure order email.

Other cleanup worth doing while you're at it

Lock down your main accounts

Turn on two-factor authentication on your email, bank and social accounts. See our walkthrough: Two-Factor Authentication Guide.

Check what has leaked

Even with data brokers removed, old breaches can expose your passwords. See How to Check if Your Email or Password Was Leaked.

Freeze your credit

A credit freeze is free and blocks most identity theft. Do it at all three bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Our guide: How to Freeze Your Credit.

Register for the Do Not Call list

It will not stop scam calls (scammers ignore it), but it cuts legitimate telemarketing. donotcall.gov.

Stop your phone from leaking your location

Review which apps have your location, contacts and microphone. See Check App Permissions on Your Phone and How to Stop Apps and Websites From Tracking You.

How to tell your cleanup is working

Every month or two, do the same search you did at the start: your full name in quotes plus your city. Compare the results to your starting list. You should see:

• Fewer people-search sites on page one
• Some sites still showing your name but with address or phone redacted
• A few stubborn holdouts that keep re-listing you

Progress, not perfection. The goal is to make yourself hard to find, not invisible.

If a specific photo or page is hurting you

If an embarrassing image or a false claim about you is live on a specific site, your options are different from data broker opt-outs:

• Ask the site directly to take it down. Most have a contact page.
• If it is an intimate image of you taken when you were a minor, use takeitdown.ncmec.org, a free service from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
• If it appears in Google search results, Google has a removal request form for certain categories (doxxing, explicit images, financial information). Search "Google remove personal information" to find it.

Read the full playbook: "Don't Get Screwed by AI"

Our hardcover Don't Get Screwed by AI covers the bigger picture: how scammers use the information data brokers publish to craft convincing calls, texts and emails — and exactly what to do when one gets through. It is written in plain English, no jargon, with checklists you can hand to a parent or grandparent. $29, free US shipping on orders of $40+, 30-day money-back guarantee.

Your checklist

• Search your name in quotes plus your city to see what is out there
• Decide: manual opt-outs, or let the Getshure app send the requests
• Lock down your email with two-factor authentication
• Freeze your credit at all three bureaus
• Review app permissions on your phone
• Re-check your search results every 1–2 months
• Repeat opt-outs every 3–6 months (or let the app do it)

Ready to stop doing this by hand?

Getting a Getshure protection plan is the fastest way to turn this chore into a background process. Pick a plan on getshure.com, sign in to the app with your order email, and the data broker removal requests start going out. Questions first? Call us at (754) 812-1679, Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM Eastern, or email contact@getshure.com. If it is not for you, cancel in one step and use the 30-day money-back guarantee — no reason needed.