How to Opt Out of Spokeo

Have you had a company that you never dealt with before cold call you? More often than not, these cold calling companies get your information from ‘people search’ (aka data broker) sites like Spokeo. But getting a call from a telemarketer isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you if your personal data is on people search sites. There are more serious risks like identity theft and doxxing attacks. That’s why opting out of Spokeo and other people search sites is a must.

We’re going to demonstrate how to opt out of Spokeo by opting out ourselves, showing you what we do each step of the way. If you want a shortcut, though, head over to our Incogni review. Incogni is a data removal service that can opt you out of Spokeo and hundreds of other people search sites without much effort. You can also manually opt out for free, which we’ll show you how to do here. However, your data may reappear within three to six months, so you’ll need to check back frequently.

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What Is Spokeo?

Spokeo is a people search site, otherwise known as a data broker service. They aggregate publicly available data about individuals and compile it into searchable profiles. Then, they let others search that data — usually for a fee.

While this might seem harmless since it’s “public” information, the reality is more concerning. Spokeo creates detailed digital dossiers by combining data points that would be difficult for the average person to connect on their own.

According to Spokeo’s own data, they pull information from over 120 online sources. If you, a friend, a colleague, or anyone in your network ever posted something about you online, Spokeo likely has it indexed. They don’t just search social media sites. There’s also information from:

• Historical records
• Property records
• Court documents
• Real estate transactions
• Business records
• Contact directories
• Email databases
• Voter registration files
• Professional licenses

With over 6 billion consumer records in their database according to Spokeo itself,1 you can safely bet on your information being in their database.

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How Do I Opt Out of Spokeo?

The good news is that you can opt out of Spokeo to remove your data. That said, they make the process cumbersome and your data may reappear later. We’ll cover what happens after opting out in detail below.

For now, let’s talk about how you can opt out. At the time of writing, we haven’t yet opted out of Spokeo ourselves, so we’re going to show you the exact steps we’re taking to manually remove our data. We’ll also share two automated alternatives that handle the removal process for you, along with hundreds of other data broker sites.

>> Learn More: 2025 Guide to Data Removal Services

How to Remove Your Data Manually from Spokeo

Let’s jump right in. Here are the steps we followed to manually remove the data of one of our digital security experts — Cort Honey — from Spokeo for free:

1. First, you’ll need to locate your Spokeo profile URL. You can find it by searching your name in the search bar on Spokeo’s home page. If no results appear (as happened with our colleague), don’t assume you’re not in their database.

Many people make the mistake of thinking no name results means no data. That’s often incorrect. Return to the homepage and search using your email address instead. For instance, Cort’s email returned multiple detailed results.

As shown above, Spokeo maintains extensive information attached to his email address. It includes family connections and background details — information many would consider private.

Once you find a link with your information, copy the URL and paste it into an empty Word document or Notepad file. We’ll use that link to tell Spokeo what we want to remove from their site.

2. Navigate to Spokeo’s opt-out page. This is intentionally difficult to find. Scroll to the very bottom of their site and click “Do Not Sell My Info” or go directly to Spokeo.com/optout.
3. On the opt-out page, locate the section titled “Opt Out Your Listing from Spokeo” in the middle of the page.

4. Enter your Spokeo profile URL and email address, complete the reCAPTCHA verification, and click “Opt Out.” You’ll receive an email within minutes containing a confirmation link.

5. Click the confirmation link in Spokeo’s email (the second link in the message). Note: We encountered an error at this stage and had to contact customer support. If you see an error message below the “Opt Out” button, you’ll need to reach out for assistance.

On the “Customer Care” page, the “GET HELP NOW” button to initiate a live chat won’t work if you have an ad blocker. Once we turned off our ad blocker, we were able to access their live chat. Unfortunately, we had to give Spokeo more of our information to get our information off their site using the live chat feature.

During our first attempt, the live chat was unavailable. We ended up emailing their support directly and we recommend you start there to avoid these hassles.

6. Verify your removal is complete. After 24 to 72 hours, return to your saved Spokeo URL. It should say “No Results Found.” This confirms your removal was successful, though remember this is often temporary.

Use Data Removal Sites and Services to Opt Out of Spokeo

For most people, that manual process of opting out of Spokeo won’t be easy. And that’s by design. Spokeo doesn’t want you opting out. Your data available on their site is how they make their money. That’s why they put the removal form in the middle of a page and label the link to the opt out page “Do Not Sell My Information.”

You don’t need to do all of this alone. You’ll always have us to guide you, but there are also services you can pay for to opt you out of Spokeo.

Use Incogni to Opt Out of Spokeo

Our top-rated data removal service is Incogni, which combines effectiveness with affordability. Starting at $4.19 per month, Incogni offers great value. You’ll see measurable results within days.

One week after signing up for Incogni, it submitted 129 removal requests on our behalf and successfully removed our data from 100 sites. Most services take weeks to deliver results like that. For instance, when we compared Incogni vs. DeleteMe, we had to wait a week to see any results from DeleteMe. That’s because they don’t use automated processes like Incogni. Check out our review of DeleteMe to see if a manual service is more up your alley. Or take a look at our Optery review for another one of our favorite options.

>> Read More: Optery vs. Incogni: Which Data Removal Service Is Better?

What Happens Once I Opt Out of Spokeo?

After successfully opting out, your Spokeo profile will display “No Results Found” rather than showing a button to unlock results. This indicates that Spokeo removed your information from their active database. However, this removal is not permanent.

Your information may reappear every three to six months. This occurs when Spokeo acquires fresh data from existing sources. They may also reactivate your profile if they discover the same data from a new source.

Unfortunately, this practice is completely legal. Spokeo aggregates publicly available information, which they’re entitled to collect under current U.S. law.2 This is precisely why we recommend automated removal services. They continuously monitor for your data’s reappearance and automatically submit new removal requests.

Why Should You Opt Out of Spokeo?

Beyond the obvious privacy concerns and unwanted solicitations, there are compelling security reasons to remove your information from Spokeo. Here are the three most critical risks:

• Identity Theft Vulnerability — Modern identity thieves use a technique called “data enrichment.” Starting with minimal information like an email, they use sites like Spokeo to build complete profiles. They can find your full name, date of birth, family members’ names, previous addresses, and more. This information answers common security questions and enables account takeovers.
• Targeted Scam Campaigns — Scammers purchase Spokeo data to create highly personalized attacks. They can reference your actual family members, mention your real previous addresses, and cite accurate personal details to build trust with their target.
• Physical Safety Risks — For anyone concerned about stalking, harassment, or domestic violence, Spokeo presents serious dangers. The platform provides current and historical addresses, making it trivial for bad actors to track someone’s location.

>> Read About: How to Remove Your Address From the Internet

Final Thoughts: How to Opt Out of Spokeo

While Spokeo intentionally makes opting out challenging, you can remove your information using our step-by-step guide. However, expect to repeat this process every few months as your data inevitably reappears.

For comprehensive, ongoing protection, we recommend an automated removal service like Incogni. At less than $5 per month, they continuously monitor and remove your information from hundreds of data brokers.