What Data Brokers Are and Where They Get Your Information

Data brokers are companies whose primary business is collecting, aggregating, and selling personal information — usually without any direct relationship with the people whose data they hold. Their customers include marketers, insurers, employers, landlords, and increasingly, other data brokers.

Their sources span a surprisingly wide range:

  • Public records: Court filings, property deeds, voter registration rolls, marriage licenses, and motor vehicle records (where permitted) are all legally accessible and systematically harvested.
  • Social media and online activity: Profile information you make public on social platforms, forum posts, and comment sections feed directly into broker databases. Even when you're logged out, your browsing behavior may be collected — a dynamic explained in more detail in our article on how websites track you even when you're not logged in.
  • Loyalty programs and retail data: When you use a grocery rewards card or enter a sweepstakes, that purchase and demographic data is often licensed to third parties.
  • App permissions: Mobile apps that request access to your location, contacts, or activity logs frequently share that data with advertising networks and data brokers.
  • Data purchases from other brokers: Brokers buy from each other, which means a single piece of information can propagate across dozens of databases rapidly.

The result is a profile that can include your name, current and past addresses, phone numbers, relatives, estimated income range, political affiliation, purchasing habits, and health interests. This is part of a broader surveillance ecosystem explored in our end-to-end internet privacy guide.

Automated Removal Services Are Not a Complete Solution

Several subscription services claim to remove your data from hundreds of brokers automatically. While these can reduce the manual burden, they cannot access every broker, and removed records frequently return as databases are refreshed. If you use such a service, treat it as a supplement to your own efforts, not a replacement. Review their privacy policy carefully before sharing personal details with any third-party removal tool.

What You'll Need Before You Start

Before submitting opt-out requests, gather the following. Being organized upfront will save significant time.

What you will need

A list of the email addresses you use regularly (brokers often have multiple on file)
Your current and any recent past home addresses
A dedicated email address for opt-out requests, to keep responses organized
Basic familiarity with submitting web forms
Optional: a spreadsheet or notes app to track which brokers you've contacted and when

Step-by-Step: Reducing Your Data Broker Profile

The steps below address both immediate opt-outs and longer-term habits that limit how much data brokers can collect on you going forward. Work through them in order — upstream changes have compounding benefits.

1

Search for your own name on major people-search sites

Start by searching your full name, city, and state on well-known people-search sites (examples include Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, and Intelius). Note every listing that contains accurate information about you — these are your priority targets. Screenshots or a simple spreadsheet help you track what exists and verify removal later.

Tip: Try variations of your name — with and without a middle initial, maiden name, or common misspellings — since brokers may have multiple entries for the same person.
2

Submit opt-out requests to each broker individually

Each data broker maintains its own opt-out process, typically accessible through a link labeled "Do Not Sell My Information" or "Remove My Data" in the site footer. Follow each site's specific instructions — some require you to verify your identity via email, others ask for a scanned ID. Keep a log of submission dates and any confirmation numbers provided.

Major broker categories to cover include:

  • People-search and background-check sites
  • Marketing data aggregators (such as Acxiom, Oracle Data Cloud, and Epsilon)
  • Advertising data platforms (including the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out portal)
Warning: Some sites require you to create an account to submit an opt-out. Use your dedicated opt-out email address for these registrations rather than your primary email.
3

Adjust privacy settings on social media profiles

Review the privacy settings on every social platform you use. Set profiles to private where possible, remove your phone number and birthday from public-facing fields, and audit the third-party apps that have been granted access to your account. Public social media data is one of the easiest sources for brokers to harvest automatically.

Tip: On most platforms, the privacy settings menu includes an option to limit how search engines index your profile — enabling this reduces how easily your information is discovered and aggregated.
4

Review app permissions on your mobile devices

Go to your phone's settings and review which apps have access to your location, contacts, microphone, and camera. Revoke permissions that aren't necessary for an app's core function. Location data in particular is a valuable commodity that many apps collect continuously and share with data brokers through advertising SDKs (software development kits embedded in apps).

On iOS, check Settings > Privacy & Security. On Android, go to Settings > Privacy > Permission Manager.

Warning: Revoking permissions may reduce some app functionality. Evaluate each app individually rather than making blanket changes that could disrupt apps you rely on.
5

Limit data shared through loyalty programs and online forms

When signing up for retail loyalty cards, sweepstakes, or newsletter subscriptions, provide only the minimum required information. Where allowed, use a secondary email address and avoid entering a phone number unless it is mandatory. Data collected through these programs is routinely licensed to third-party brokers as part of the business model.

Tip: Some services accept a postal code instead of a full address — provide the minimum that satisfies the required field.
6

Consider a browser that limits tracking

The browser you use affects how much behavioral data is collected about you before it ever reaches a broker. Browsers that block third-party cookies and fingerprinting scripts by default reduce the volume of behavioral data available for sale. Our article on browsers and privacy walks through the meaningful differences between options.

7

Set a recurring reminder to repeat the process

Schedule a calendar reminder every six months to re-search your name on people-search sites and re-submit opt-outs for any listings that have reappeared. Data broker profiles are not static — they are continuously refreshed from new public record updates and data purchases. Ongoing maintenance is the only way to keep your profile minimal over time.

Tip: Some opt-out confirmation emails include the date your request was processed — save these in a folder so you can reference them if a record reappears and you need to escalate.

State Privacy Rights May Strengthen Your Requests

If you live in California, Virginia, Colorado, or another state with a consumer privacy law, you may be entitled to submit a formal deletion request rather than a voluntary opt-out. These requests carry legal weight and require brokers to respond within specific timeframes. Check your state attorney general's website for current guidance and template language you can include in your requests.

What You Can Realistically Expect

Opting out of data brokers is not a one-time fix. Brokers regularly re-acquire data from new sources, so records that were removed can reappear within months. Consistent, periodic reviews — ideally every six to twelve months — are more effective than a single cleanup effort.

Some states offer stronger protections. California's Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and its 2020 expansion (CPRA) give residents the right to know what data is held about them, request deletion, and opt out of the sale of their data. Virginia, Colorado, and several other states have passed similar frameworks. If you live in one of these states, reference your state attorney general's website for current rights and enforcement contacts.

For a broader look at where privacy assumptions often go wrong, see our piece on internet privacy myths — many readers are surprised by how much data persists even after taking protective steps. Once you've addressed data brokers, a full personal privacy audit covering accounts, devices, and apps is a logical next step.

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