How to Remove Personal Information From Internet

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How to Remove Your Personal Information From the Internet

If you have ever googled your own name, you already know the problem. Your phone number, home address, email, and even relatives’ names are probably just a click away. Data brokers, people-search sites, and social platforms have made it remarkably easy for anyone to find your personal information online.

Learning how to remove personal information from the internet is not about going off the grid completely. It is about reducing your exposure so that strangers, scammers, and marketers cannot piece together your life from a few search results. This step-by-step guide walks you through the process — from deleting your data on Google to opting out of data brokers and keeping your information from reappearing.

You do not need to be a tech expert. Every step below is written for regular people who just want more control over their own data.

Why Is Your Personal Information Online in the First Place?

Before we get into removal steps, it helps to understand how your data ended up online. There are three main sources:

  1. You shared it voluntarily. Social media profiles, forum posts, directory listings, and old accounts all contribute.
  2. Public records. Property deeds, court records, voter registrations, and business licenses are often publicly available by law.
  3. Data brokers. Companies that collect, buy, and sell your information — often without you knowing — then publish it on people-search websites.

Data brokers aggregate information from all three sources. They combine your public records with your online activity to build detailed profiles. These profiles are then sold to advertisers, investigators, and anyone willing to pay.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), data brokers collect billions of data points on consumers, often with no direct relationship to the people they track.

What you should do: Accept that some information is public by law and cannot be fully removed. Focus on what you can control — data brokers, social media, and search results. That alone will dramatically reduce your exposure.

Step 1: Find Out What Is Out There About You

You cannot remove what you do not know about. Start by searching for yourself.

Search Google for Your Name

  1. Open Google in an incognito or private browser window (so results are not personalized).
  2. Search for your full name in quotes: "Jane Doe"
  3. Add your city or state for more specific results: "Jane Doe" Chicago
  4. Also search for your phone number, email address, and home address.

Write down every website that shows your personal information. You will need this list for the removal steps.

Check People-Search Sites Directly

Search for yourself on the major people-search websites. The biggest ones include:

  • Spokeo
  • WhitePages
  • PeopleFinder
  • BeenVerified
  • TruePeopleSearch
  • Intelius
  • MyLife

Type your name and state into each one. If a profile comes up, note the site and the URL of your listing.

What you should do: Create a simple spreadsheet with three columns: Website, URL of your listing, and Status (pending/removed). Track your progress as you go through the opt-out process.

Step 2: Remove Personal Information From Google Search Results

Google is not the source of your personal information — it just points to websites that have it. But you can ask Google to remove certain types of sensitive data from its search results.

What Google Will Remove

Google has policies for removing specific categories of personal information from search results:

  • Non-consensual explicit imagery (revenge porn)
  • Personal contact information (phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses) when combined with doxxing or harassment
  • Bank account or credit card numbers
  • Sign-in credentials that appear in search results
  • Medical records
  • Government-issued IDs (like Social Security numbers)

As of 2022, Google also expanded its policy to allow removal of personal contact information (phone, email, address) even without evidence of harassment, if the information poses a risk of harm.

How to Submit a Removal Request to Google

  1. Go to Google’s Remove Your Personal Information page.
  2. Select the type of content you want removed.
  3. Fill in the required details: the URL of the search result, the specific information you want removed, and why it should be taken down.
  4. Submit the request. Google typically reviews it within a few days.

Important Limitations

  • Removing a result from Google does not remove it from the original website. You still need to contact the website directly (see Step 3).
  • Google may decline your request if the information is deemed newsworthy, part of public records, or otherwise in the public interest.
  • Google only removes results from its own search engine. Other search engines like Bing and DuckDuckGo have their own processes.

What you should do: Submit Google removal requests for any sensitive personal information. Then go directly to the source website and request removal there too. Removing from Google alone is not enough — the page still exists and can be found through other search engines.

Step 3: Opt Out of Data Brokers and People-Search Sites

This is the most impactful step. Data brokers and people-search sites are the main reason your information is so easy to find. Most of them are legally required to honor opt-out requests, but they do not make it easy.

How to Opt Out of Major Data Brokers

Each site has its own opt-out process. Here are the general steps for the most common ones:

Spokeo

  1. Find your listing at spokeo.com.
  2. Copy the URL of your profile page.
  3. Go to spokeo.com/optout.
  4. Paste your profile URL and provide your email address.
  5. Confirm via the email you receive.

WhitePages

  1. Find your listing at whitepages.com.
  2. Click the “Remove this record” link on your profile.
  3. Create an account or verify your identity via phone.
  4. Select a reason for removal and confirm.

BeenVerified

  1. Go to beenverified.com/optout.
  2. Search for your listing.
  3. Provide your email and confirm the opt-out request.

TruePeopleSearch

  1. Find your listing at truepeoplesearch.com.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of your profile and click “Remove This Record.”
  3. Provide your email and confirm.

Intelius

  1. Go to intelius.com/optout.
  2. Search for your listing and follow the prompts.
  3. Verify via email.

Opt-Out Comparison Table

Site Opt-Out URL Time to Process Requires ID?
Spokeo spokeo.com/optout 24-72 hours No
WhitePages whitepages.com (on listing) 24-48 hours Phone verification
BeenVerified beenverified.com/optout 24-72 hours No
TruePeopleSearch truepeoplesearch.com (on listing) Immediate No
Intelius intelius.com/opt-out 3-7 days No
MyLife mylife.com/privacy 7-14 days No
PeopleFinder peoplefinder.com/optout 3-7 days No

Tips for Opt-Out Success

  • Use a separate email address for opt-out confirmations. Some sites may add you to marketing lists.
  • Be patient. Some sites take up to two weeks to process requests.
  • Check back. Verify your listing has been removed after a week. If it is still there, submit again.
  • Do not pay for removal. Some sites try to upsell you on premium removal services. The basic opt-out is free by law.

What you should do: Block out 1-2 hours and go through every major data broker one by one. It is tedious but effective. Use your spreadsheet to track which sites you have completed.

Step 4: Lock Down Your Social Media Privacy Settings

Social media platforms are a goldmine for anyone trying to learn about you. Your birthday, workplace, location, friends, and photos are often visible to anyone who looks.

Facebook Privacy Checklist

  1. Set your profile to private: Go to Settings → Privacy → “Who can see your future posts?” → Select “Friends.”
  2. Limit past posts: In the same section, click “Limit Past Posts” to make all previous posts friends-only.
  3. Hide your friend list: Settings → Privacy → “Who can see your friends list?” → Select “Only me.”
  4. Remove personal details: Go to your About section and remove or hide your phone number, email, and address.
  5. Disable search engine indexing: Settings → Privacy → “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?” → Turn off.

Instagram Privacy Checklist

  1. Set your account to private: Settings → Account Privacy → Toggle “Private Account” on.
  2. Remove personal info from your bio: Delete phone numbers, email addresses, or location details.
  3. Limit who can tag you: Settings → Tags → Select “Only People I Follow.”

LinkedIn Privacy Checklist

  1. Limit profile visibility: Settings → Visibility → Select who can see your profile and activity.
  2. Turn off profile visibility outside LinkedIn: Settings → Visibility → “Profile visibility off LinkedIn” → Turn off.
  3. Hide connections: Settings → Visibility → “Who can see your connections” → Select “Only you.”

X (Twitter) Privacy Checklist

  1. Protect your tweets: Settings → Privacy and safety → Audience and tagging → “Protect your posts.”
  2. Disable location sharing: Settings → Privacy and safety → Location information → Turn off.
  3. Limit who can tag you: Settings → Privacy and safety → Audience and tagging → Select who can tag you in photos.

What you should do: Go through each platform where you have an account. Even if you do not use a platform anymore, either update its privacy settings or delete the account entirely. An old, public profile you forgot about is still a source of personal data.

Step 5: Delete or Deactivate Old Accounts You No Longer Use

Every account you create is another place where your data lives. Old accounts on forums, shopping sites, and social platforms are often forgotten — but they still hold your personal information. They are also a security risk if they get breached.

How to Find Old Accounts

  1. Check your password manager or browser saved passwords for sites you have logged into.
  2. Search your email inbox for subject lines like “Welcome to,” “Verify your account,” or “Your registration.”
  3. Use JustDelete.me — a directory of direct links to delete accounts on hundreds of websites.
  4. Search your name on Google to find profiles you may have forgotten about.

Delete vs. Deactivate

  • Delete permanently removes your account and data (in most cases). This is the better option for privacy.
  • Deactivate temporarily hides your account but keeps your data on the company’s servers. Use this only if you think you might return.

What you should do: Make a list of every account you no longer use. Go to each one and delete it. If a site does not offer a delete option, contact their support and request deletion under applicable privacy laws (like GDPR or CCPA).

Step 6: Remove Your Information From People-Search Aggregators

Some services go beyond individual data brokers and scan hundreds of sites at once. While you can do this manually (as described in Step 3), these services automate the process.

Service Cost Coverage Notes
DeleteMe ~$129/year 40+ data brokers Most popular, good track record
Incogni ~$6.49/mo 180+ data brokers Backed by Surfshark, affordable
PrivacyDuck ~$799/year Premium removal Best for high-profile individuals
OneRep ~$8.33/mo 200+ sites Good value, automatic rescans

Are Removal Services Worth It?

If you have the time, you can do everything these services do for free. But the process is tedious, and data brokers regularly re-add your information. A paid service saves time and handles ongoing monitoring.

For most people, a mid-range option like DeleteMe or Incogni provides good value. If you are on a tight budget, do it manually and check back every few months.

What you should do: If you can afford it, sign up for a removal service and let them handle the ongoing work. If not, commit to doing a manual check of the major data brokers every 3-6 months.

Step 7: Set Up Ongoing Monitoring

Removing your information once is not enough. Data brokers constantly refresh their databases from public records and other sources. Your profile can reappear weeks or months after you opt out.

Free Monitoring Methods

  1. Google Alerts: Go to google.com/alerts and create an alert for your name (in quotes). Google will email you whenever new results appear.
  2. Regular self-searches: Set a calendar reminder to Google yourself every 3 months.
  3. Check data brokers periodically: Re-visit the major people-search sites every 6 months and submit opt-outs again if needed.
  • DeleteMe includes quarterly scans and re-removals.
  • OneRep offers automatic rescans every 3 months.
  • BrandYourself provides a personal privacy dashboard with ongoing alerts.

What you should do: At minimum, set up a Google Alert for your name. It takes two minutes and gives you a heads-up when new information appears. Combine it with a quarterly manual check of the biggest data brokers.

Step 8: Prevent New Information From Appearing

The best way to reduce your online footprint going forward is to stop adding to it. Here are practical habits:

Online Behavior Changes

  • Use a separate email for sign-ups. Create a dedicated email address for newsletters, shopping, and services. Keep your personal email private.
  • Do not use your real name on forums and social media when it is not required. Use a pseudonym for Reddit, Discord, and similar platforms.
  • Avoid filling out optional fields. When a form asks for your phone number or address unnecessarily, leave it blank.
  • Use a VPN to prevent your ISP from tracking your browsing. For more on this, see our guide on does a VPN protect you from hackers.
  • Use a password manager to create strong, unique passwords for every account. Read our article on are password managers safe to learn why they are essential.

Be Careful About Phishing

When you are cleaning up your online presence, you may get emails claiming to be from data brokers or privacy services. Some of these are phishing attempts designed to steal your login credentials. Learn how to identify them in our guide on how to spot a phishing email.

Understand What “Private” Actually Means

Many people think incognito mode keeps them private. It does not — your ISP, employer, and the websites you visit can still see your activity. For the full story, read is incognito mode really private.

What you should do: Adopt these habits one at a time. You do not need to change everything overnight. Start with a separate email for sign-ups and a password manager. Then work on using pseudonyms and limiting the information you share.

Depending on where you live, you may have legal rights that make data removal easier.

GDPR (European Union)

If you live in the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation gives you the right to erasure (also called the right to be forgotten). You can request that any organization delete your personal data, and they are legally required to comply within 30 days.

CCPA (California, USA)

The California Consumer Privacy Act gives California residents the right to:

  • Know what personal data companies collect about you
  • Request deletion of your data
  • Opt out of the sale of your data
  • Not be discriminated against for exercising these rights

Other US State Privacy Laws

Several states have enacted their own privacy laws, including Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and Utah. Check your state’s specific legislation for details.

  1. Identify the company that holds your data.
  2. Find their privacy or data request page (usually linked in the footer of their website).
  3. Submit a deletion request referencing the applicable law (GDPR, CCPA, etc.).
  4. Follow up if you do not receive confirmation within 30 days.

If a company refuses or ignores your request, you can file a complaint with your local data protection authority.

What you should do: If you live in the EU or California, use your legal rights aggressively. Companies are required to respond. For a template deletion request email, search for “GDPR deletion request template” — there are many free options available online.

How Long Does It Take to Remove Personal Information From the Internet?

Honestly, it depends. Here is a realistic timeline:

Step Time Required Results Visible
Google search and inventory 30-60 minutes Immediate list of exposures
Google removal request 15 minutes per request 3-7 days
Data broker opt-outs (manual) 2-3 hours total 1-2 weeks
Social media privacy lockdown 30-60 minutes Immediate
Old account deletion 1-2 hours Varies by site
Paid removal service 15 minutes to sign up 1-4 weeks

You will see noticeable improvements within 2-4 weeks of starting. But it is an ongoing process — data brokers re-add information regularly, so maintenance is key.

What you should do: Expect this to be a process, not a one-time fix. Set aside a weekend to get started, then schedule quarterly check-ins to keep your footprint small.

FAQ: How to Remove Personal Information From the Internet

Can I completely erase myself from the internet?

No, not completely. Public records, news articles, and government databases are outside your control. But you can dramatically reduce what is visible. Most people can remove 70-90% of their personal information from easily accessible websites and search results.

Is it illegal for websites to post my personal information?

In most cases, no. Public records (property records, court filings, voter registrations) are legal to publish. However, some jurisdictions have laws requiring data brokers to honor opt-out requests. And if your information is used for harassment or identity theft, that is illegal regardless of the source.

Do data broker opt-outs really work?

Yes, but temporarily. Most major data brokers will remove your listing when you submit an opt-out request. The problem is that they often re-add your information when they refresh their databases from public records. This is why ongoing monitoring is essential.

What if a website refuses to remove my information?

If the website is based in the EU and you are an EU resident, you can cite the GDPR and file a complaint with your national data protection authority. In California, the CCPA gives you similar rights. For websites outside these jurisdictions, your options are more limited — but you can still ask Google to remove the page from search results.

Should I pay a service to remove my information?

It depends on your budget and how much time you are willing to spend. Paid services like DeleteMe and Incogni are effective and save time, especially for ongoing monitoring. But you can achieve similar results for free if you are willing to do the manual work and check back regularly.

Conclusion: Take Control of Your Personal Information

Learning how to remove personal information from the internet is not a one-time task — it is an ongoing practice. Data brokers, search engines, and social platforms will continue to collect and display your data unless you actively manage your presence.

Here is your action plan:

  1. Search for yourself on Google and major people-search sites.
  2. Submit removal requests to Google for sensitive information.
  3. Opt out of data brokers — start with the biggest ones (Spokeo, WhitePages, BeenVerified).
  4. Lock down your social media privacy settings on every platform.
  5. Delete old accounts you no longer use.
  6. Set up monitoring with Google Alerts and periodic self-searches.
  7. Adopt privacy-friendly habits going forward — separate emails, pseudonyms, and minimal data sharing.

You do not have to do everything at once. Start with the highest-impact steps: data broker opt-outs and social media privacy. Those two actions alone will remove the majority of your publicly accessible information.

What you should do right now: Open a new browser tab, Google your name, and start making your list. The sooner you begin, the sooner your information becomes harder to find.

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