We Tried Erasing Ourselves From the Internet for a Month. Here's Who Fought Back.

The Experiment: One Month, One Editor, Zero Patience Left

Somewhere out there, a website you've never visited knows your middle name, every address you've had since college, and your aunt's phone number in Ohio. That's not paranoia — that's the data broker industry, and it's worth billions.

So we ran an experiment. For 30 days, one ScatPoisk editor submitted opt-out requests to a dozen of the biggest people-search and data broker sites, logging how long each took, what hoops they made us jump through, and — the part most guides skip — whether our info quietly reappeared afterward.

Here's how it went, broker by broker, with a difficulty rating so you know what you're getting into.

The Ground Rules

We used a test profile with a real name, two past addresses, and a publicly listed phone number. Every request was timed. Every confirmation was screenshotted. And starting week three, we re-searched each site to see if our data had been re-listed.

One note before you start: you'll need a burner email. Most brokers require you to verify the opt-out from the email address associated with the listing — and if you use your real one, congratulations, you've just handed a data broker a fresh, verified contact point.

The Marathon, Broker by Broker

The Easy Ones (Difficulty: 1/5)

A handful of sites actually seem to respect the process. You search your name, find your listing, click the opt-out link, verify via email, done. Total time: under ten minutes each. These were the minority.

The Middle Tier (Difficulty: 3/5)

This is where most brokers live. Expect a multi-step verification form, an uploaded photo of your ID (redact everything except your name and the specific data point they list — we cannot stress this enough), and a waiting period of three to ten business days. One site required us to mail a written request. In 2024. With a stamp.

The Final Boss (Difficulty: 5/5)

At least one major broker made us verify via a code sent to the phone number listed in our profile — a number we hadn't controlled in years. That's the catch-22: they'll only remove data they have on file, but only if you can prove you're the person that data says you are. We got through it with a carrier's help, but plenty of people won't, and we suspect that's not an accident.

The Reappearing Act

Here's the part that should make you angry. By day 24, our test profile had resurfaced on three of the sites we'd successfully opted out of. Not because we failed — because brokers continuously re-pull from public records, credit headers, and each other. Opting out is not a one-time fix. It's lawn care.

Our recommendation: calendar a re-check every 90 days. Search your name on each site you've cleared, and resubmit if needed. Tedious? Extremely. Effective? Mostly.

Your Step-by-Step Playbook

1. Build a list. Search your name plus your city on the major people-search sites and note every listing.
2. Get a burner email and, if needed, a Google Voice number for verification codes.
3. Work the easy tier first — momentum matters in a project this boring.
4. Redact your ID ruthlessly. Cover your photo, license number, birth date, and everything except what they need to match the listing.
5. Log everything. Screenshot confirmations. You'll want receipts when your data resurfaces.
6. Set a recurring 90-day reminder to re-check.

Alternatively, there are paid services that do this on subscription. They work, mostly. But now you know how to do it yourself — and 'mostly' is the operative word no matter which route you take.

The Takeaway

Thirty days of work bought us maybe 80% removal, with a slow drip of re-listings afterward. That's the honest math. Data brokers operate in a legal gray zone that's only slowly tightening — several states now have dedicated opt-out registries, which is worth checking for your state. But until the law catches up, the marathon is yours to run. Lace up.