How to Remove Your Personal Information from the Internet
A step-by-step guide to removing your name, address, and phone number from Google, data broker sites, social media, and old accounts. Free methods covered first.
Check what currently exists about you
Before removing anything, map your current exposure. This takes 10 minutes and shows you where to focus.
- Search your full name in quotes, e.g. "Jane Smith"
- Add variations: name + city, name + phone number, name + old address
- Note which data broker sites appear in results (Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, etc.)
- Screenshot or bookmark the results page for reference
- Visit haveibeenpwned.com and enter each email address you use
- A breach result means your data is circulating in criminal databases
- Note which services were involved, as those accounts need priority attention
- Change passwords on any breached accounts immediately
Remove yourself from Google Search
Google does not host your data but it makes it findable. Two separate tools handle different types of removal.
- Go to myaccount.google.com, then Data & Privacy, then Results about you
- Google shows pages it found containing your personal information
- Click Remove on entries that show your home address, phone number, or email
- You can also request removal manually by submitting a URL
- Processing takes 1 to 3 weeks per request
- Only applies to pages that no longer exist or have been updated
- Visit Google's Remove Outdated Content tool (search for it directly)
- Paste the URL of the page and describe what changed
- Google will re-crawl and update its index
- This does not remove the original page, only the cached Google version
Opt out of data broker sites
Data brokers are the core of the problem. They aggregate public records and sell profile pages showing your home address, relatives, and phone number. This section has the highest impact.
Each site has its own opt-out page. Search for the site name plus "opt out" to find the current removal form.
- Whitepages: whitepages.com/suppression_requests
- Spokeo: spokeo.com/optout
- BeenVerified: beenverified.com/opt-out
- Intelius: intelius.com/opt-out
- Truthfinder: truthfinder.com/opt-out
- Radaris: radaris.com/page/how-to-remove
- MyLife: mylife.com/ccpa/index.pubview
- PeopleFinders: peoplefinders.com/opt-out
- FastPeopleSearch: fastpeoplesearch.com/removal
- US Search: ussearch.com/consumer/raf.do
Your data reappears after a few months. Paid services automate ongoing removal so you do not have to repeat this process manually.
- DeleteMe: covers around 750 sites, monthly or annual plans
- Incogni: covers 180+ brokers, good value entry point
- Optery: free tier available for a limited number of sites
- Cost is typically $10 to $30 per month or $100 to $130 per year
- Worth considering if your job, living situation, or safety makes ongoing exposure a real risk
Remove or lock down social media
Social profiles are indexed by Google and scraped by data brokers. Download your data before deleting anything.
- Facebook: Settings, Your Facebook Information, Download Your Information
- Google: takeout.google.com
- Twitter/X: Settings, More, Your Account, Download an archive
- Instagram: Settings, Account Center, Your information and permissions
- Allow up to 24 hours for the download to be ready
- Facebook: Settings, Your Facebook Information, Deactivation and Deletion
- Instagram: Settings, Account, Delete Account (mobile app only)
- Twitter/X: Settings, Your Account, Deactivate Account (30-day grace period)
- LinkedIn: Me, Settings and Privacy, Account Management, Close Account
- TikTok: Settings, Manage Account, Delete Account
- For other platforms, justdeleteme.xyz has step-by-step instructions for 700+ services
- Set your profile to private or friends-only
- Remove your phone number, location, and birthday from public view
- On Twitter/X: Settings, Privacy and Safety, turn off "Allow search engine indexing"
- On LinkedIn: Settings, Visibility, turn off "Profile visibility off LinkedIn"
- Remove your location from all post history where possible
Close old accounts and reduce email exposure
Old accounts you forgot about are a common source of breached data. Finding and closing them reduces your attack surface going forward.
- Search your inbox for "welcome", "verify your email", and "activate your account"
- This surfaces accounts you signed up for years ago
- Use justdeleteme.xyz to find the deletion page for each service
- Unsubscribe from newsletters before deleting the account to prevent bounce loops
- Use an email alias for signups: Apple Hide My Email, Fastmail masked addresses, or SimpleLogin
- If that alias gets breached, you disable it without touching your real address
- Use a VoIP number (Google Voice, MySudo) when sites ask for a phone number you do not want public
- Do not use your real name for non-essential accounts
Handle news articles and forum posts
This section is situational. Most sites will not remove content, but some will, and legal rights exist in certain regions.
- Find the contact or legal email address on the site
- Request removal citing a clear reason: safety concern, outdated information, or mistaken identity
- Smaller forums and local news sites often comply, especially for old posts
- Large national news publications generally do not remove articles but may add a correction
- Be polite and specific about which content and why
- GDPR (EU and UK) gives you the Right to Erasure, allowing you to formally request deletion of your personal data from any company operating in those regions
- CCPA (California) gives California residents similar rights to request deletion from businesses that collect their data
- Send a written request citing the specific law and your right under it
- Companies have 30 days to respond, and must comply unless an exemption applies
- Journalism and public interest content is often exempt from these rights
Complete removal from the internet is not realistic. Data spreads to too many places, and public records are continually re-scraped. The goal is not perfection. It is making your information inconvenient enough to find that casual searches return nothing useful. Working through Sections 3 and 4 (data brokers and social media) removes the most visible exposure for most people. Repeat the data broker opt-outs every 6 to 12 months, as your profile data reappears over time.