PeopleSearchNow makes it "easy to find people, even with just the smallest amount of contact information.” All users need to do is enter a name, phone number, or address into the company’s website. PeopleSearchNow will then locate any records and create a detailed report of the searched-for person’s personal data. This includes everything from their contact information to details of their property and other assets.
If you’d rather your sensitive data wasn’t made so easily available, don’t worry – we’ll tell you how to opt out of PeopleSearchNow and other similar people-finder sites.
Why you should remove your data from PeopleSearchNow
PeopleSearchNow claims to aggregate "billions of public records from across the United States.” The collected information is presented in neat reports to paying PeopleSearchNow customers – who can access the data for as little as $1.
Information contained in a typical report might include:
- Addresses and phone numbers
- Email addresses
- Social media records
- Names of family members and associates
- List of assets and properties
- Business records
- Any professional licenses
- Marriage and divorce records
- Arrest and criminal records
- Registered sex offender check
- Evictions and foreclosures
- Bankruptcies, liens, and judgements
- Speeding tickets
PeopleSearchNow says that this information must not be used to "harass, offend, threaten, embarrass, or invade the privacy of any individual or entity.” Neither should it be used "to transmit any commercial, advertising, promotional materials… or any other form of solicitation.”
While this is good in theory, there’s little to actually prevent anyone from doing these things. The availability of this data is of particular concern to victims of abuse. The Voices of Women site points out that "if perpetrators of abuse want to continue to victimize survivors, they can use people search sites as their agents in helping them to terrorize survivors.”
Readily available personal data is also valuable to scammers, spammers, and those engaging in identity theft. It can even be used by employers or landlords to pre-judge applicants, which isn’t great considering PeopleSearchNow doesn’t guarantee the "validity of any data provided.”
All in all, there are many compelling reasons to remove your data from PeopleSearchNow. Like other people-search sites, the company is profiting from your personal information and giving nothing back in return.
How to opt out of PeopleSearchNow
It’s easy to remove your personal information from PeopleSearchNow. Just follow these instructions:
- Go to peoplesearchnow.com/opt-out
- Enter your email address in the required field, agree to the terms, solve the Captcha, and click the "Opt Out My Info” button
- Enter your name and some of your address, then click the magnifying glass icon
- Click the "View All Info” button next to the relevant record
- Click the red "Remove Record” button
- Check your email inbox, open the confirmation email and follow the instructions to confirm opt-out
Check the site again after a few days to ensure that your data has been deleted. You’ll also need to periodically check the site to ensure your data doesn’t get re-added. Repeat the above process if you do discover new information.
How do I opt out of data brokers and people search sites?
After you’ve successfully removed your data from PeopleSearchNow there are several other similar sites that are worth targeting. We’ve already written guides for removing your personal information from the following:
Some others you might contact include:
- Truthfinder
- Spokeo
- ZabaSearch
- PeopleFinders
- Pipl
- Instant Checkmate
- USSearch
People-search sites are the most visible of the data brokers, but there are countless others trading your data less publicly. Unfortunately, trying to find, contact and monitor all of these sites can feel like an endless game of whack-a-mole. If this doesn’t appeal, there are services available that will do it for you.
The best service to opt out of people-finder sites
Let’s explore how the best data removal service works in a little more detail.
Incogni takes care of contacting individual data brokers with data removal requests and then chases them up. A great value service that’s easy for anyone to use. Incogni is an effective data removal company created by the people behind the popular Surfshark VPN. Like Surfshark, Incogni is easy to set up and has a user-friendly interface. It’s one of the only data companies to offer its services to people in Europe and Canada, as well as the US. Incogni subscriptions cost $6.49 a month for an annual subscription, or $12.99 per month if paying on a month-by-month basis. These come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try the service risk-free. Once you’ve signed up, all you need to do is fill out a form with your personal and address information, authorize Incogni to act on your behalf, and let the service get to work. Incogni calculates which of the 180+ data brokers and people-search sites are most likely to have your data, and begins sending them removal requests. You can monitor progress via the online dashboard. This shows how many companies have been contacted, how many requests have been completed, and how many are in progress. Those who want more detail can find out what type of data individual companies specialize in. Some focus on marketin or recruitment and health, while others are interested in data for risk mitigation, health, and finance. Then, of course, there are the people-search companies like PeopleSearchNow. Each company is rated for how sensitive the data it collects is. Once the data is removed, Incogni checks back every three months to ensure that personal information hasn’t been re-added to company databases. 1. Incogni
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Opting out of PeopleSearchNow – FAQs