What is People Search Sites?
Websites that aggregate and sell personal information including addresses, phone numbers, relatives, and criminal records, making anyone's details available for a small fee.
People search sites are the retail arm of the data broker industry. They make your personal information available to anyone willing to pay.
Major People Search Sites
- Spokeo, WhitePages, BeenVerified, Intelius, PeopleFinders, ThatsThem, FastPeopleSearch, TruePeopleSearch, USSearch, Radaris
What They Reveal
- Current and past home addresses
- Phone numbers (including unlisted)
- Email addresses
- Relatives and associates
- Social media profiles
- Property records
- Court records
- Estimated income and net worth
How to Remove Yourself
Manual opt-out: Each site has a different removal process. It's tedious — there are 200+ sites.
Automated removal services (compare vetted options on Default Privacy’s /remove and in the directory under Identity & Data Removal):
- Examples include Optery, DeleteMe, Kanary, and others — coverage, price, and monitoring differ by provider
Important: Data reappears over time. One-time removal isn't enough — you need ongoing monitoring.
The Cycle
Data brokers collect your info → sell to people search sites → you opt out → brokers re-collect from public records → your info reappears. Breaking this cycle requires either continuous removal or preventing the data from being public in the first place (anonymous LLC, privacy-protected domain, etc.).
Related Terms
Data Broker
A company that collects personal information from various sources, aggregates it into detailed profiles, and sells it to third parties. Data brokers operate largely in the shadows, compiling information about people who often don't know they exist.
Doxxing
The malicious act of publicly revealing someone's private information — such as home address, phone number, or workplace — without their consent, often to enable harassment.
PII (Personally Identifiable Information)
Any data that can be used to identify a specific individual, including name, address, phone number, email, Social Security number, and biometric data.
Right to Be Forgotten
A legal right, primarily under GDPR Article 17, that allows individuals to request the deletion of their personal data from organizations and search engine results when it's no longer necessary or was processed without proper consent.
Have more questions?
Use our guided flow to get the right next privacy step for People Search Sites.
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