How to remove your family's information from data brokers

Your family can appear on a people-search site without anyone in the family having an account there. These sites assemble information from public records, social media and other businesses, then sell reports that can include addresses and relatives. Taking down your own posts doesn't remove those reports. The FTC explains how people-search sites get their information.

The job is to find the business holding the information and use its removal process. In California, you can now send one free request to registered data brokers through DROP. Outside that service, you usually have to work through the companies individually.

Start with the information someone can find about your family

Search your name with your city, then try your phone number or address. Follow results to the site publishing the listing. Record its address and the particular details you want removed; you don't need to buy a report to begin an opt-out.

Check the relatives shown in the listing too. A child's connection to an address may appear in a parent's report, and removing your own listing doesn't necessarily remove mentions in someone else's. The FTC also warns that listings can return when a site gets new information. Keep the original links so you can check them again after the request is processed. FTC removal guidance

If you live in California, use the free DROP service

DROP is run by California's privacy regulator. It is for California residents, including people domiciled there who are temporarily away. Registered brokers began processing requests on August 1, 2026; the service is already operating.

Start from that government page and choose Get started. It takes you to the official consumer portal, where you verify California residency before making a deletion profile.

The profile requires your name, date of birth and ZIP code. Add emails, phone numbers or previous names to help matching. Device and vehicle identifiers are optional. Save your eight-digit DROP ID to return to the request.

Unless you narrow the list, it covers current and future active DROP brokers and newly acquired matching information. Exempt information, public records and data held by businesses you've dealt with directly aren't covered. How DROP works

One request isn't a household request. DROP permits requests on someone else's behalf with their permission, including a parent requesting for a child; it also checks that person's residency. Follow that process separately for each person.

If residency verification fails, choose Request a review of your eligibility on the result screen. If you lose your DROP ID, check your email if you asked for a copy, then use the regulator's help route. DROP help

Read the result before calling it removed

DROP says a status update can take up to 90 days. Its result labels distinguish deletion from other outcomes:

The official status guide explains these distinctions. If an identifiable listing remains after “Record not found,” check whether your profile includes the old name or email used in that listing. DROP allows profile updates once every 45 days. Updating a DROP profile

For individual sites, ask for the change you want

Open the site's Privacy, Your privacy choices or Opt out page. California's data broker registry can also help identify a company's official contact details.

A sale or sharing opt-out tells a company to stop specified uses of information. A deletion request asks it to remove information it holds. Where both are available and you want both, submit both; don't assume a button labelled Do not sell deletes the record.

Your rights depend on where you live and which business holds the information. Under California's CCPA, for example, deletion has exceptions and the business can verify your identity. A sale or sharing opt-out should not require identity verification, although the business may need basic information to locate the record. California's explanation of these rights

If a form asks for more information than you expected, first check that you're on the company's official site and whether you're requesting deletion or opting out. Ask its privacy contact what is required to match the record, and whether you can conceal unrelated details on any requested document. Don't add information simply because an optional box is there.

Save the request date, reference number and reply alongside the listing. If it is refused, ask which part was refused and why. A reply saying that a company must keep some transaction records doesn't explain why a public people-search listing should remain visible.

Check the listing and the source separately

After the company says it has removed the listing, open the original page again. If it is gone but Google still shows an old excerpt, Google's outdated-result route is a separate job. If the information is still on a public social profile you control, remove it there too so it isn't available for another company to collect.

People-search cleanup deals with visible listings. Brokers also trade information that won't appear when you search your name, including records of where phones have been. That needs a different check: which apps can collect your family's location.