Remove Yourself From USSearch.com

USSearch is another search site that provides a TON of your personal information, like Intelius.com.  They show your:

• Names
• Relatives (even distant relations)
• Addresses
• Phones
• Places you've worked
• Schools you've attended

ALL FOR FREE on their website.  Anyone can look you up.  This is a very dangerous site.  Again, these are the sites that con artists and thieves use to hijack your identity or prey upon the elderly for money or worse.

The rotten thing about USSearch.com is that they require your ID to remove the information they're stealing from you.  Fun, huh?

What you'll need:

• The website
• Your US government ID (driver's license, state ID, military ID, passport)
• A copy machine
• A black, felt-tip marker (no, ballpoint isn't good enough)
• A fax machine

Step 1: Navigate to USSearch.com and scroll to the bottom of the page.  Click the "Contact Us" link.

Step 2: Click on the FAQ button.  

This opens the FAQ page.  

Scroll down a little until you see the "How do I remove myself from these records?" link.

Click that link.

Step 3: The site will show you a description of what information they have, etc.  

Click the "here" link.

Step 4: Enter your name and state.  You do not need to enter your age unless you need to filter down further in the result list.

Step 5:  Find yourself in the results list.  Click the Get Your Report link.

Step 6: The site will show you a fax form that you need to print out.  Print it.  

Alternatively, you may mail it in, but then you have no proof that you sent it, so I recommend the fax.

Step 7:  Make a photocopy of your US government ID.  

Step 8:  With the black marker, blacken out:

• Your picture
• Your ID number
• Your signature

Do not try to use a ballpoint pen- it can be read through.

Step 9:  Fax the printed form and the copy of your ID to 425-974-6242.  

Be sure to list all of the aliases you want removed.

Remove Yourself From Spokeo.com

What you'll need to remove yourself from Spokeo:

• A browser with multiple tabs
• Junk email address

Step 1: Navigate to Spokeo.com.  Click on the "Contact" link at the bottom of the page.

Step 2:  The "Help/FAQ" link in the right panel.

Step 3: Click on the Data & Privacy tab.

Step 4:  Click on the "How do I opt out of Spokeo/remove my listing?"

Step 5:  The system opens the instructions page for removing your information.  Leave this window open.

Step 6:  In a new tab or window, navigate to Spokeo.com.  Search for your name.  

REMEMBER:  You will need to repeat this for every name you've had and place you've lived.

Step 7:  Find your name in the list and click on it.  If you are listed more than once, you will need to do each one separately.

Step 8:  They website will show you the details of the listing.  Highlight the full link and copy it. (Ctrl+C)

Step 9:  Go back to the Remove Listing page.  

a) Paste the link you just copied (Ctrl+V) into the first text box.  

b) Enter in a junk email address

c) Enter the security code

d) Click the Remove This Listing button.

Step 10:  Go to your email.  You will receive an email from Spokeo for each listing that you removed.

Step 11:  Click the link in the email to finalize removing your listing.

Be sure to repeat these steps for you and your family members.  

Remember that all family members may not be familiar with a computer and they are at the greatest risk for being conned by people using their information to elicit money or worse.   Spokeo does put a limit of 7 removals per computer, however, so if you need to remove more, contact Customer Service and tell them that you're on a public computer to have them release the IP so you can remove more.

Remove Yourself From AnyWho.com

While this is not one of the big personal information sales site, it does come up on the first page of a Google search for personal information.  The nice thing about this site is that you can remove ANYONE'S information- even perfect strangers, which I hope all of you anti-establishment readers out there take advantage of.


What you'll need:

• Just the website

Step 1:  From the AnyWho White Pages tab, enter your name and state.

Step 2:   Find your name in the listed results.  Click on your name.

Step 3:  Once on the detailed information page, click the "Remove Listing" hyperlink.

Step 4:  You will need to select the Remove Reason and enter the security code at the bottom.  

Step 5:  Wait for the Receipt page.

Again, you'll need to REMOVE EVERY ALIAS AND ADDRESS you've had.  I also recommend removing any relatives or former spouse information, just to be safe.

Remove Your Private Information From Intelius.com

In our journey through the unethical sales and distribution of your life history to anyone on the internet, the most insidious website I've found is Intelius.com.

This website lists out not only the addresses, names, and relatives that you have, but the colleges and schools you've attended AND all of the jobs you've had.  This is one of those sites where employers can search for you, for free, to see if your resume is spot-on the truth or not.

I honestly don't see how this is LEGAL!

To remove your information from this site, you'll need:
ON-LINE PATH

• The website
• A US government ID (passport, driver's license, military ID, state ID, etc)
• A scanner
• Paint or Photoshop

OR

FAX PATH

• The website
• A US government ID (passport, driver's license, military ID, state ID, etc)
• A copy machine
• A black, felt-tip pen (like a Sharpie)
• A Notary Public (like a bankteller)
• A fax machine

Step 1:  Navigate to Intelius.com and scroll to the bottom of the page.  Click the Help link.

Step 2:  In the right side panel, click the "How do I remove my information from your database/reports?"

Step 3:  In the expanded menu, you will have two different options: 

1. Fill out the form on-line, or
2. Fax in a notarized form.

Obviously, this site makes removing your information difficult to deter people from doing it.  You also cannot remove other people because you have to have a government ID to do so.

Step 3:  (Online Submission)  Click the Opt-out form show in the picture above.  This will take you to the page below:

Step 4:  Scan in your government ID to the computer.

Step 5:  Open the scanned image in Photoshop or paint.

Step 6:  Using the Shapes, put an opaque (filled) square over your picture and ID number.  Don't worry, this is what the instructions on the page say to do.  What the website does NOT say to do is to black-out your signature, but I highly recommend you do this.

Step 7:  Save the updated image.

Step 8:  Back on the website, browse for the updated image and upload it to the site.

Step 9:  Click the Submit Opt-Out button.  

NOTE:  YOU DO NOT NEED TO FILL OUT STEPS 2 or 3 ON THE PAGE.  HOWEVER, IF YOU HAVE CHANGED YOUR NAME OR ADDRESS AND WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY REMOVE EVERYTHING, YOU CAN ADD NOTES TO THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TEXT BOX.

Step 10:  Click the Crop or Don't Crop button.  It doesn't matter, either way.  (I have a junk image entered in the picture below, just for demonstration purposes.  Your ID image will be shown, not a bell curve).

Step 11:  The website will show you a receipt.  WRITE DOWN THE CONFIRMATION NUMBER.

_________________________________________________________________________________

FAX PATH

Fax Path 1:  If you want to submit a faxed form, click on the Notarized Identify Verification Form

Fax Path 2:  Print the form that opens.

Fax Path 3:  Take the form and your ID to a Notary Public to get it signed and stamped.

Fax Path 4:  Make a photocopy of your ID.

Fax Path 5:  With your black felt tip pen, completely color over your ID number and image.   I also recommend blacking-out your signature.  Do not try to use a ball point pen.

Fax Path 6:  Fax your copied ID and notary form to FAX # 494-974-6194 

How to Remove Yourself From Peoplesmart.com

Continuing with our theme of helping the public take down these immoral and unethical companies, today I'll show you how to remove your information from Peoplesmart.com searches.

What you'll need:

• Internet access to peoplesmart.com
• Junk email address

Step 1:  Navigate to Peoplesmart.com and click on the Help link at the bottom of the page.

Step 2:  On the Help page, scroll down to the "How do I opt-out my information from searches?" and click on the link that it opens.

Step 3:  Enter your name and state in the search boxes.  

NOTE:  You will have to do this search for EACH Address you've lived at and Last Name you've had (So, ladies, again, if you've been married, divorced, and remarried, you'll have to search for each of the 4 last names you've had and all the addresses.)

Step 4:  Find your name in the listings and click the "This is Me" button.

Step 5:  On the next page, you'll see a bunch of checkboxes. You can choose to continue to allow some of your information to be searched or you can click the "Select All" button to deselect all of your information.

Click "Save Settings"

Step 6:  You will need to create an account to save your changes.  HOWEVER, you can enter junk or even a single character for the first and last names.  And you can always you a junk email address.

Step 7:  Sign out of the site.  

Be sure to go back and do this for all of your friends and relatives, since there did not seem to be limit when I went through it, however, I do believe that you have to sign out before each time you go through to remove a name.

Removing Yourself From Searches By BeenVerified.com

In doing some research, I found that there are literally MILLIONS of sites selling your private information.  However, when I clicked on several of them, they pointed back to 5 or 6 sites where they are buying the information.  These sites are:

• Intelius.com
• BeenVerified.com
• Spokeo.com
• USSearch.com
• PeopleFinders.com

Today, I'll show you how to remove yourself (and loved ones) from BeenVerified.

What you'll need:

• An email address (I have a junk one that I direct all of these types of emails to)
• The BeenVerified webpage.
• A browser that supports multiple tabs (this will really help if you have multiple requests)

Step 1:

Navigate to www.BeenVerified.com and scroll to the very bottom of the page until you see the listing for FAQ.

Step 2:  Click on the FAQ Link.  This will take you to the FAQ Page.  

Step 3:  In the left panel, click the "Opt-out Instructions".

Step 4:  Click the "if you would like to opt out of our People Search results Click Here" link. (shown below)

Step 5:  When you click on the link, you'll be taken to a search page where you'll need to enter your name.  REMEMBER:  YOU WILL NEED TO OPT OUT FOR EVERY ADDRESS YOU'VE LIVED AT AND EVERY NAME YOU'VE USED (e.g. Ladies, if you were married, divorced, and remarried, you'll have 4 names you'll need to find and remove including your maiden name)

Step 6:  Scroll through the lists to find your names.  Once you find yourself (or a loved one), click the "That's Me" button next to the entry.

Step 7:  Now you will need to enter your email address.  THIS DOES NOT COMPLETE THE PROCESS.   Once you enter your email, the site is going to send you an email.  

Step 8:  IN YOUR EMAIL, find the email that will be from BeenVerified.com.  This was very quick when I did it, but you may want to go ahead and search for more names while you wait.  

NOTE:  The site DOES limit you to 1 opt-out per email address.

Step 9:  Open your email and click the confirmation link.  This is a big long text string- you can't miss it.

Step 10:  A new tab will open in your browser showing a receipt page.  But you are still not done.

Step 11:  Wait until you receive a confirmation email from BeenVerified before you are done with the removal.  You do not receive a confirmation email, contact their customer service line:

Email- support@beenverified.com

Phone - 1-888-579-5910

Twitter- @BeenVerified

Please note that you cannot contact their customer service line to opt-out.  They will direct you to complete the on-line process.

MyLife Makes Your Life Public

In continuing with citing creepy websites that operate on the very fringe of what we'd like to think and call "LEGAL", I'd like to share this website:

www.MyLife.com

This website used to be known as ClassMates.com, so for those of you who used it to reconnect back in the last 90s (before the days of Facebook), I've got news for you:

They know who you are,
Where you live,
Your age,
And all the other information you shared on ClassMates.com, including interests, pets, and what make/model you drive.

In addition, as you'll see when you follow these steps, they also have information sharing agreements with big sites like Facebook and Amazon, which allows them to search those databases for more information about you, then provide a free snapshot on their website of your personal information to anyone who wants to see it.  They get away with this because it's an advertisement of their paid service of providing a full digest of your life found on the web for a very low price.

Just to give you a demonstration of how creepy this can be, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to www.MyLife.com

2. Click on the People Search item in the right navigation pane.

3. Enter in your name in the bottom text boxes.  If you're married or have changed your name, be sure to check those, too, for added insight into how much of your life is in this site.

4.  The website will display your information on the page.  You can even send an email to yourself...or, if you're into spamming people, this site gives you lots of free addresses to add to your emails about erectile dysfunction.

Now, if you want to actually REMOVE or suppress your information from this site, it is very difficult.  They have the instructions for  doing so hidden under 5 or 6 pages of "Help" menus with tiny text.  In an effort to help shut down this company, here's the information you need:

Contact Customer Care at 888-704-1901.  

Open hours: M-F 6am to 9pm Pacific Time and Sat-Sun 6am to 6pm Pacific Time.

When you call, ask for a manager immediately.  The Customer Service representatives will try to prevent you from removing your information and even tell you that you have given them blanket permission to display your information forever.  THIS IS NOT TRUE.  YOU HAVE A LEGAL RIGHT TO REMOVE THIS INFORMATION AND HAVE IT REMOVED IMMEDIATELY.

When I called, I had to bring up the fact that I was being stalked and that their website was providing the information to the stalker.  They still wouldn't remove the information without a manager.

Just ask for the manager immediately.

And, if you're a lawyer and can find something that they're doing completely illegal, yes, I would LOVE to be part of the class action law suit.