MyLife opt-out: removing your profile and its reputation score

Most people-search listings are dull to look at: a name, an age, a list of cities. MyLife's profiles have tended to add something that makes people sit up, a number it calls a Reputation Score, presented as though it says something about your character. If you have found your own profile and want it gone, the MyLife opt-out is free and runs through a privacy request form. This piece covers how to remove yourself from MyLife at the time of writing, what that score is and is not, and what to keep on file once you have sent the request.

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What MyLife shows, and what the FTC said about it

It helps to know the history, because it explains why a removal here is worth an evening. In July 2020 the Department of Justice, acting for the FTC, sued MyLife and its chief executive. The complaint described "teaser" background reports that came up when someone searched a name, each featuring a Reputation Score that MyLife said was based on public information plus personal reviews written by others. According to the FTC, those teaser pages often implied, falsely, that the person might have criminal or sex offender records, which could be seen only by buying a subscription. The FTC said this led some people to believe that they, or someone else, had an arrest or criminal record when they did not, or when all they had was a minor traffic citation.

The complaint also charged that MyLife broke the Fair Credit Reporting Act by not taking reasonable steps to make its background reports accurate or to check how buyers would use them. In December 2021 the company and its chief executive agreed to a court order that, as the FTC's announcement describes it, permanently bans them from offering any product with a negative option feature (a subscription that keeps charging unless you act to stop it), bars them from implying that a person with a traffic violation has a criminal record, requires a program to monitor compliance with the FCRA, and puts 21 million dollars toward consumers. If the FCRA side of this is new to you, Judith's piece on the Fair Credit Reporting Act and people-search sites explains where that law begins and ends.

None of that means every MyLife profile is wrong. It does mean the score deserves no special weight. It is not a credit score from a credit bureau, it is not a court record, and it is not a verdict on you. It is a figure a company put next to your name. The practical consequence is simple: you do not need to fix the score, argue with it or improve it. You need the profile gone, and the score goes with the page it sits on. If any page invites you to claim your profile, add details, collect reviews or raise your number, skip it. Every one of those means handing the site more information, and none of them is the removal form.

The request itself

At the time of writing, MyLife's form is at mylife.com/privacyrequest. An older privacy request address that still circulates on removal lists no longer works, so type this one yourself rather than following an old link or a search ad. The form is embedded from a third-party form service and needs JavaScript, so if the page looks empty, allow scripts for it or pause a strict blocker for the visit.

The form asks for more than most people-search opt-outs: your state, name, city, ZIP code, an email address and your birth year, with a box for your profile URL that is marked optional. Use the optional box anyway. When several people share your name, the profile's web address is the surest way for MyLife to remove the right record, and it saves the company asking you for more. Open your profile, copy the full address from the browser bar, and paste it in.

For the rest, give what the profile already shows. If it lists the city you lived in before your last move, use that city. Give the birth year only if it matches what the profile displays or implies through an age; there is no reason to hand over a date of birth it does not already have. Use an email address you keep only for removals. When you send the form, MyLife confirms by email, and the request is not complete until you act on that message, so check your inbox and the spam folder the same evening.

Depending on where you live, you may also have legal rights here. Several states now give residents a right to delete personal information or to opt out of its sale, and companies covered by those laws have to answer within set deadlines. If the form will not work for you, or you want a paper trail stronger than a web submission, our request letter builder drafts a deletion request you can send to the privacy contact you find in MyLife's privacy policy. If you are dealing with harassment or a safety threat, say so in the request, and talk to a victim advocate about your state's address confidentiality program as well.

MyLife removals can take longer than those at the free search sites, so do not read anything into a profile that is still up after a few days. Look again after about two weeks. If it is still there, send the request again with the same details and note that it is a second request. If a second request goes unanswered, a written deletion request citing your state's law is the next step.

What to keep in your log

In compliance work, the rule I learned early was that a request you cannot show is a request that did not happen. That applies just as well when you are the one making the request. For MyLife, keep a little more than you would for a simple listing, because the form asks for more and the wait is longer:

• The profile URL, copied before you sent the request.
• A screenshot of your own profile page, including the score, saved before removal. It is your evidence of what was shown if you ever need to complain.
• Exactly what you entered on the form: the state, city, ZIP code and birth year, so a second request can match the first.
• The date you sent the form and the date you confirmed the email, with the confirmation email kept in a folder.
• The date you checked again, and what you found.
• Any reply from MyLife's privacy team, and any written request you sent under a state law.

Keep the screenshot and the log somewhere private. They hold the same details you are trying to take off the internet, so they belong in your own files, not in a shared folder or an email to anyone else.

A checklist for the evening

MyLife is one site among many, and the same records usually sit on several others. If you are working through the free search sites as well, my FastPeopleSearch walkthrough covers that group's two-part email process, and the full opt-out guide puts the big sites in order. If the repeat checks are more than you want to keep up with, paid services such as DeleteMe send requests like this one on a schedule; check that MyLife is on a service's covered list before you pay.

Before you close the tab tonight:

• Profile found, and you are sure it is yours (age, cities, relatives).
• Profile URL copied and a screenshot saved privately.
• Form filled in with the details the profile shows, URL included.
• Confirmation email opened and acted on, and filed in your removals folder.
• A reminder set for two weeks out, then another for three months.
• Nothing given that the profile did not already show, and no ID, card number or payment anywhere.

The score is the part people remember, but it is the least important thing on the page. Get the profile down, keep your record of how you did it, and check back.

Your next three steps

1. Log this request in the opt-out checklist, with the date to look again.
2. Give the next opt-out form its own address: NordPass Email Masking (Premium and Family plans) forwards to your inbox and can be switched off later.
3. Roll an identity-blocking stamp over labels and letters before they go out, so the address you just removed doesn't leave in the recycling.