What Now? How to Protect Your Privacy from People Search Sites

How would you feel if someone published lies about you online? What if they falsely said you’d defaulted on your debts or had a criminal record? You’d be rightfully upset, and you might even want to take legal action against them. Well, sadly, your name can be besmirched in a completely legal way: “people search” sites, such as Spokeo, Intelius, and PeopleFinders, are a type of data broker website that makes its money by selling information about normal people like you. You don’t have control over what personal information they publish, and they’re not even required to make sure what they publish is accurate. The reports they compile are available to prospective employers, landlords, lenders, and anyone else who cares to buy them.

Unfortunately, there’s no good way to hold these sites accountable for the information they publish. But what you can do is fight back, and we’ll tell you how.

Why People Search Sites Get It Wrong

People search sites publish incorrect information for several reasons. They buy and mine data from numerous sources, any of which might have errors in their records. They also use automated software to gather information from the web, and that software isn’t always capable of deciphering one “John Smith” from the other. So, for example, your report could contain damaging information such as criminal activity that came from someone else with the same name as you.

Another reason for the publishing of false information is that there’s no regulation or ramifications holding these sites accountable. They can protect themselves by simply publishing a disclaimer like this one from Spokeo: “Because Spokeo only collects this data and does not create it, we cannot fully guarantee its accuracy.” Their user agreement also states that the reports shouldn’t be used to screen prospective tenants, job or loan applicants, etc., but they have no control over how their reports are used.

Why Deletion is the Best Solution

It’s not practical to correct misinformation about you on people search sites. There are well over 100 of these types of sites based in the U.S., and each one will gladly charge you or anyone else to see your report, but most have no process in place to correct errors. However, most of them do have opt-out procedures so that you can have your profile deleted. Some require a letter or a fax to opt-out, some require identity verification such as a copy of your driver’s license, and some require you to opt-out by phone.

Getting through even just the major people search sites can take time. As a Consumer Reports blogger said, if you’re going to tackle this, “make sure to set aside a good chunk of your day, get snacks ready, and cue up some music.” And you may have to go through the process several times because, even after they remove your report, their automated software will often simply build and post a new one.

How Automation Simplifies Deletion

The easiest and most reliable way to opt-out of people search sites is to use a deletion service such as the ForgetMe feature included with IDX Privacy. ForgetMe continuously scans over 100 data broker websites and automatically removes personal profiles. If a profile is reposted, ForgetMe will find it and remove it again, as many times as it takes. There are stand-alone deletion services but they can cost anywhere from $100/year to almost $1,000/year for removal alone, whereas IDX Privacy includes a whole suite of privacy-protecting features, from a tracking blocker and dark web monitoring to use of a secure VPN to protect your privacy away from home.

Stop Misinformation in its Tracks

Of course, people search sites are not the only places that can expose incorrect information about you. Mistakes can happen in public records, identities can be confused, and sometimes malicious falsehoods can be spread on social media sites. Wrong information can also be an indicator that someone has stolen your identity. So, as one reputation management expert recently pointed out “it is important to do a thorough online search of your name...frequently: for the good, the bad and the ugly.” Better yet, if you’re an IDX member, you have dark web and social media monitoring features to continuously do the scanning for you.

But people search sites are one place where you can stop misinformation in its tracks. Unlike your credit report, you don’t need a people search report to buy a house or get a loan. If you apply for a job or to rent an apartment, you can provide good references, so there’s no need to risk your prospective employer or landlord finding false information about you.

A people search report benefits the data broker who sells it, not you. And the only information that’s guaranteed to be 100 percent error-free is information that doesn’t exist. So, don’t take chances. Step up and opt-out!