How to remove your personal information from the internet

Published October 22, 2026

To remove your personal information from the internet, start with data brokers and people-search sites: request removal from each one yourself (free), use California's DROP if you live there (free, 600+ brokers in one request), or pay a service like Incogni (about $96 a year) or DeleteMe (about $129 a year) to do it continuously. Then ask Google to drop search results that show your phone or address.

Where your information comes from

Data brokers buy and combine public records, marketing lists and app data, then sell profiles with your address, phone, relatives and age. People-search sites show those profiles to anyone. It's what scammers use to make a call sound legitimate, and why removing it reduces spam calls, scams and stalking risk.

Free option 1: opt out yourself

Search your full name plus your city on Google, and note every people-search site that shows you.
On each site, look for “Do not sell”, “Opt out” or “Remove my information” (usually in the footer).
Use a separate email address for the requests; some sites send a confirmation link.
Keep a list with the date of each request, and check again in two or three months.

It works, but there are hundreds of brokers and they re-list people, so expect several hours and a repeat every few months.

Free option 2: California's DROP

If you live in California, the state's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) sends one request to more than 600 registered data brokers to delete your information and stop selling it. It's free, opened on January 1, 2026, and since August 1, 2026 brokers must check it and process deletions at least every 45 days. You can also file for a family member, such as a child. Step by step: how to use California's DROP.

Free option 3: Google's “Results about you”

Google's Results about you lets you request removal of search results that show your phone number, home address or email, and alerts you when new ones appear. It removes the result from Google, not the page from the site, so combine it with the opt-outs.

Paid services: DeleteMe vs Incogni

	Incogni	DeleteMe
Price, 1 person	$95.88/yr ($7.99/mo) Standard	about $129/yr
2 people / family	Family (up to 5): $191.88/yr	about $229/yr for 2 people
Coverage	420+ brokers; Unlimited adds custom removals from 3,000+ sites ($179.88/yr)	Major brokers and people-search sites
How it works	Automated, repeated requests	Removals with human review
Reports	Dashboard with request status	Quarterly privacy reports
Pay monthly?	Yes, $15.98/mo Standard	Annual plans only

Incogni prices from incogni.com/pricing, October 2026. DeleteMe doesn't display amounts on its pricing page; $129 and $229 are the one-year prices reported consistently by independent reviews in 2026.

Pick Incogni for the lower price, monthly billing and the widest automated coverage. Pick DeleteMe if you want people checking that removals actually happened and detailed reports. Identity protection plans from Aura and LifeLock include data broker removal too, so don't pay twice.

What can't be removed

Public records at the source: property records, court records, voter files in many states.
News articles and pages you don't control, unless they break the law or the site's own rules.
What you posted on social media: delete it or make the accounts private yourself.

Keep it from coming back

Use a separate email and a virtual phone number for shopping and sign-ups, say no to loyalty programs that ask for your address, and check your name again every few months. If your data has already been used to open accounts, go to identity theft: what to do and freeze your credit.

Sources: California Privacy Protection Agency, DROP · Incogni pricing · DeleteMe plans · Google, Results about you. As of October 2026.

Questions people ask

Can you really remove your personal information from the internet?

You can remove most of it from data brokers and people-search sites, which is where scammers and stalkers usually find addresses and phone numbers. You can't erase public records, news articles or what you posted yourself, and brokers tend to re-add data over time, so removal is ongoing, not one-time.

Which is better, DeleteMe or Incogni?

Incogni is cheaper (about $96 a year for its Standard plan) and fully automated across 420+ brokers. DeleteMe costs about $129 a year, has human reviewers and sends detailed quarterly reports. Pick Incogni for price and breadth, DeleteMe if you want people checking the removals.

Is there a free way to remove my information from data brokers?

Yes. You can opt out of each site yourself, which takes several hours. If you live in California, the state's free DROP platform sends one deletion request to more than 600 registered data brokers. And Google's “Results about you” lets you ask to remove search results showing your phone, address or email.

How long does it take for data brokers to remove my information?

Most remove listings within days to a few weeks after a valid request. Under California's DROP, brokers must process requests at least every 45 days. Check again after a few months, since many re-list people.

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