How to remove yourself from Whitepages, Spokeo and BeenVerified

Whitepages, Spokeo and BeenVerified are three of the names that come up most often when people search for themselves. All three remove listings for free. None of them requires an account, a payment or a copy of your ID. Each one verifies you in a different way, though, and each removes only what it controls.

Below are the steps as each site describes them at the time of writing. Forms move and buttons get renamed, so where it matters I have noted what to look for if the page has changed. If you are not sure why these sites have your details at all, start with what a data broker knows about you.

Before you start

Three things make the next hour go smoothly.

1. A separate email address. Spokeo and BeenVerified verify by email. Use an address you created for opt-outs, not the one your bank and your doctor use.
2. A removal log. For each request, write down the site, the date, the exact web address of the listing and the date you plan to check again. You will want those listing addresses later if something reappears. The opt-out checklist can keep this list for you in your own browser.
3. A short list of what you will not give. None of these three forms asks for a Social Security number, a driver's license, a full date of birth or a card number. If a page you reached through a search ad asks for any of those, you are probably on the wrong page, possibly a lookalike site. And do not buy a report to see what the site has. The free listing shows enough to identify it.

It also helps to work in a private browsing window. Spokeo suggests it when a listing link will not go through, and it keeps your searches for yourself out of your normal browser history.

Whitepages

Where the form is

The Whitepages opt-out lives at whitepages.com/suppression-requests. It does not search for you. It asks for the web address of your listing, so find that first.

What it asks for, step by step

Whitepages lays out the process in its help article Edit or Remove a personal listing. At the time of writing it runs like this:

1. On whitepages.com, search your first and last name with your city and state.
2. Open the listing that is yours with View Details, and check that the phone number and address shown really are yours.
3. Copy the web address from the address bar. It ends in a short reference code of letters and numbers.
4. Go to the suppression page, paste the address and press Next.
5. Check the details on the confirmation screen and click Remove Me.
6. Choose a reason. Whitepages says the reason does not affect the request.
7. Enter a phone number and press Call Now to Verify. An automated call gives you a four-digit code to type in.
8. The page confirms that the removal is being processed.

What to expect

The phone call is the step that makes people hesitate. Whitepages says it collects the number to verify your connection to the listing and that it will not resell it or use it on the site. If you can, use a number that already appears on the listing, so you are not handing over a new one.

Removal is usually quick, often within a few days. Whitepages does not promise a time on its help page, but it does warn that search engines may keep showing a cached copy for up to 30 days. It also says plainly that it cannot hide information held in databases it does not control, such as public records.

If you have several listings, one for each city you have lived in for example, repeat the process for each one.

Spokeo

Where the form is

The Spokeo opt-out page is spokeo.com/optout. Like Whitepages, it works from the web address of a specific listing.

What it asks for, step by step

Based on Spokeo's help center, at the time of writing:

1. Search for yourself on spokeo.com and open your listing.
2. Copy its web address. A name listing follows the pattern spokeo.com/Jane-Example/State/City/ and then a long number.
3. On the opt-out page, scroll to the section headed "Opt Out Your Listing from Spokeo" and paste the address into the box.
4. Enter your email address, which Spokeo uses to verify the removal.
5. Complete the CAPTCHA.
6. Open the confirmation email and click the link at the bottom. Nothing is removed until you do.

What to expect

Spokeo keeps separate listings for names, phone numbers, email addresses and street addresses, and each one is a separate request. For address pages, Spokeo says it will not remove the whole page about a property, but it will remove your name from it.

If the form rejects your link, Spokeo's troubleshooting page says to check the format. Links that contain "purchase" or "&loaded=1" will not work, so run the search again in a private window to get a clean one. If a removed listing still shows up for you, Spokeo points to your browser's cache: clear it and search again. Its privacy team takes questions at privacy@spokeo.com, and it asks you to include the address of every listing and any error code you saw.

Spokeo's help pages do not give a firm timeline. In published accounts, removal usually shows within a few days of clicking the confirmation link.

BeenVerified and its sister sites

Where the form is

The BeenVerified opt-out page is at beenverified.com/svc/optout/search/optouts. Older opt-out links on the same site redirect there. The page sits behind a security check that may ask you to confirm you are human before it loads. If the address changes again, look for an opt-out or "Do Not Sell or Share" link at the bottom of the home page.

What it asks for, step by step

Unlike the first two, BeenVerified searches for you:

1. Enter your first and last name, add your state if asked, and search.
2. Find your record in the results and choose the option to opt it out.
3. Enter your email address and complete the CAPTCHA.
4. Open the verification email and click the link. The request is not active until you do.

What to expect

Published guides commonly report removal within about a day of confirming. If you find more than one record, say one under a maiden name and one under your married name, each is a separate request.

The rest of the family

BeenVerified is run by The Lifetime Value Co., which also operates PeopleLooker, PeopleSmart, NeighborWho, Ownerly, NumberGuru and ReversePhone, plus Bumper for vehicle reports. Accounts differ on whether a BeenVerified opt-out clears your record across the others, so do not assume it does. A week after your BeenVerified removal, search the sister sites that cover people, homes and phone numbers, and use each site's own opt-out wherever your listing still shows.

When a listing is only partly you

Listings often blend two people: someone with the same name in the same county, a parent who shares your name, a former spouse at an old address. The forms are built to remove what belongs to you, not to sort out the mix. Whitepages asks you to confirm that the listing is associated with you before you remove it, and Spokeo takes your name off a shared address page rather than deleting the page.

If you find a blended listing, start with the one that carries your current address or your current phone number, because those are the details that let someone reach you. Note the others in your log with a short description ("Jane Example, age 70, Springfield, probably my mother's record") so you can recognize them next time and decide whether they need a request of their own.

If you are removing listings for safety

If you are getting away from an abusive partner or dealing with a harasser, the order of work matters more than speed. Remove the listings that show your current address first. Then remove the ones that name relatives who could be contacted to reach you. Use an email address and a phone number the other person does not know, and do the work on a device they cannot get into.

Many states run address confidentiality programs that give survivors a substitute address to use on public records. Your state attorney general or secretary of state office can tell you whether one exists where you live and who qualifies. A local domestic violence advocate can help with both the program and the opt-outs.

What removal does and does not do

Both Whitepages and Spokeo describe what they do as suppression. The listing is hidden from public view, and the site keeps track of what not to show. That is why the request is tied to the specific listing you pointed to, and why a new listing built from fresh records can appear later with a different web address.

Removal also stops at the edge of the company's own sites. The county still has your deed. The court still has its docket. Other brokers still have whatever they bought. The FTC says as much in its page on people search sites: opting out does not delete public records, your details may still appear on a relative's report, and changes in public records can bring your information back.

None of that makes these three requests a waste of time. They take the easiest, most visible copies of your details out of view, and a person who wants to find you has to work harder.

The three at a glance

Once all three confirmations are in your log, put a date three months out in your calendar to search again. Then carry on with the next sites on the list. The opt-out guide takes them one at a time, with the same kind of steps.