Get Off the Lists

National Do Not Call Registry

Time About 3 minutes You'll need A phone number and an email address to confirm

1. Open the page and follow its link to register a phone number.
2. Enter up to three phone numbers and your email address.
3. Open the email you get and click its link within 72 hours.

Your number should show up on the list the next day, but it can take up to 31 days for sales calls to stop. Registrations don't expire. You can also call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register. Charities, political groups, debt collectors and surveys can still call.

OptOutPrescreen (credit card and insurance offers)

Time About 5 minutes You'll need Your name and address. Your date of birth and Social Security number are optional.

Security note: the site asks for your Social Security number, but it's optional. If you enter it, do it only on this official site, and never give it to anyone else.

1. Open the form page and choose the 5-year online opt-out.
2. Enter your name and address. Your date of birth and Social Security number are optional, but the site says they help it find your file. You have 15 minutes to finish.
3. Want it to last longer than five years? The site has a form you can print, sign and mail for a longer opt-out.

The four credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion) run this site together. You can also call 1-888-567-8688. You can opt back in at any time.

California DROP (California residents only)

Time About 15 minutes You'll need A California address you can prove. No account is needed.

1. Open the DROP page and choose Get started.
2. Verify that you live in California. Signing in with Login.gov is optional.
3. Add the basic info you want data brokers to look for. You choose how much.
4. Submit your request. It goes to more than 600 registered data brokers.

It's free. Data brokers started processing requests on August 1, 2026, and it can take up to 90 days for updates to show in DROP. DROP covers registered data brokers only, so still do the people-search sites below. Don't live in California? Mark it Done to skip it.

Whitepages

Time About 5 minutes You'll need A phone that can get an automated call

1. Search your name and city on whitepages.com, open your listing and copy its web address.
2. Open the removal page, paste the address and click Next.
3. Click Remove Me and pick a reason.
4. Enter your phone number and choose Call Now to Verify. Type in the code shown on your screen when the call asks.

You can only remove a listing, not edit it. Search engines may show an old copy for a few weeks.

Spokeo

Time About 5 minutes per listing You'll need An email address to confirm

1. Search your name on spokeo.com, open your listing and copy its web address.
2. Open the removal page, paste the address and enter your email.
3. Click the link in the confirmation email.

Removal usually takes a day or two. If you have more than one listing, each one needs its own request.

Intelius, TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate and US Search

Time About 10 minutes You'll need An email address to confirm and your date of birth

1. Enter your email address and click the link in the email you get.
2. Enter your date of birth and legal name, then pick the record that is yours.
3. Enter the code the site sends to the phone number or email on that record.
4. Under Desired Behavior, choose Suppressed and save. Don't stop before you save.

One request on this page hides your report from name searches on all four sites. Your name can still show up in phone, address or email searches. It doesn't cover Classmates.com.

BeenVerified

Time About 5 minutes You'll need An email address to confirm

1. Open BeenVerified's privacy page.
2. Click the Opt Out link near the bottom of that page.
3. Search for your record, select it and enter your email address.
4. Click the link in the verification email.

We couldn't open BeenVerified's own opt-out form to check it, so this button opens its privacy page. That page's Opt Out link is the way in, and the page also lists an email address for privacy requests.

FastPeopleSearch

Time About 5 minutes You'll need An email address to confirm

1. Enter your name and email address on the page and complete the check. Choose that you are the subject of the request.
2. Click the link in the email within 24 hours. It may take a while to arrive.
3. Fill in the form so it matches the record you want removed.
4. Look for the confirmation page and email.

The site says to allow 3 days for the record to come down. Leaving things out or entering wrong info only slows it down.

PeopleFinders

Time About 5 minutes You'll need Your name and address. Your date of birth is optional.

1. Open the page and click Next.
2. Enter your name, street address, city and state. Date of birth, phone and email are optional, but the site says leaving things out can keep it from finding all your records. The site also says made-up info only slows things down.
3. Check the box that says the request is yours, pass the human check and click Submit.

The site says it removes the record within 3 days. Ignore any offers to buy something. Removal is free.

SmartBackgroundChecks

Time About 5 minutes You'll need An email address to confirm

1. Enter your name and email address on the page and complete the check. Choose that you are the subject of the request.
2. Click the link in the email within 24 hours.
3. Fill in the form so it matches the record you want removed.
4. Look for the confirmation page and email.

The site says to allow 3 days for the record to come down.

CheckPeople

Time About 10 minutes You'll need An email address to confirm and your date of birth

1. Enter your email address, check the box and continue.
2. Click the link in the email, then enter your date of birth and legal name.
3. Pick the record that is yours and follow the site's last steps to suppress it.

We only checked the first screen, so later screens may look a little different.

MyLife

Time About 5 minutes You'll need An email address and the year you were born

1. Pick your state first, then fill in your name, city, ZIP code and email address.
2. Enter your birth year.
3. Pass the human check and click Submit.

MyLife also unsubscribes that email address and deletes any MyLife account made with it. Use a different email address if you want to keep an account.

DMAchoice

Time About 10 minutes You'll need Your name, address and email address, plus a card or PayPal for the $8 fee

1. Open the registration page.
2. Enter your name, address, email address and a password. You can add other spellings of your name and other addresses.
3. Pay the $8 fee online. It covers 10 years. Or print the form and mail it with a $9 check or money order.

DMAchoice is run by the ANA, a trade group for advertisers, not by the government. It cuts down some promotional mail, but it won't stop all of it.