You can use a free email template to ask a data broker to remove your profile, stop selling or sharing your information, and confirm the result. The message works best when it identifies the exact listing and uses the broker's current official privacy or opt-out channel.

Many brokers use an online form instead of ordinary email. Open the broker's current website first, then paste the appropriate template into its form or send it to the privacy contact listed there. An email doesn't guarantee instant deletion: identity verification, legal exceptions, public records, and information supplied by another company can affect the outcome.

Opting out and deleting data are also different requests. An opt-out usually concerns future sale, sharing, or targeted advertising. A deletion request asks the business to remove information it holds, subject to applicable exceptions. Ask for both when the law and the broker's process allow it.

Prepare your request before sending it

A specific request is easier for a broker to match and easier for you to prove later.

1. Save each profile. Copy the profile page address and take a dated screenshot showing the information you want removed.
2. Use the official contact route. Find the broker's privacy policy, opt-out page, or consumer request form. Don't rely on an old email address from a third-party list.
3. List matching identifiers. Include your full name, former names, current and previous cities or addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses connected with the listing.
4. Share the minimum necessary information. Don't put a Social Security number, full date of birth, account password, or an unredacted identity document in an ordinary email.
5. Follow verification instructions carefully. If an official portal requires an email or phone confirmation, complete it and save the confirmation number.
6. Keep a record. Save the message, submission date, confirmation, profile URL, screenshots, and every reply.

If the broker requests identity documents, use its secure upload process if available. Redact information that isn't needed for matching, such as an identification number, and don't send a document to an unverified address.

Free general data broker removal email template

Use this version for a U.S. broker when no specific state or international template applies. Replace every item in brackets and remove fields you don't need.

Subject: Personal Data Deletion and Opt-Out Request - [Full Name]

Hello [Broker Privacy Team],

I am requesting the deletion of personal information associated with me and the suppression of my information from future sale or sharing, to the extent required or available under applicable law and your privacy policy.

Please use the following information to locate my records:

Full name: [Full Name]
Other names used: [Aliases or Former Names, if applicable]
Email address(es): [Email Address(es)]
Phone number(s): [Phone Number(s)]
Current city and state: [City, State]
Former city or address: [Former City or Address, if needed]
Profile or listing URL(s): [Exact URL(s)]

Please:

1. Remove the profile, records, and duplicate listings associated with these identifiers where deletion is available.
2. Opt me out of future sale, sharing, and targeted advertising where applicable.
3. Suppress the identifiers above from being used to recreate the same listing, where your system permits.
4. Confirm in writing what was deleted, what information was retained, and the reason for any retention or denial.
5. Tell me if you need additional information to verify the request and explain how to provide it through your official process.

Please respond in writing and confirm completion within the time required by applicable law. I am willing to complete reasonable identity verification, but please request only information necessary to match my records.

Thank you,

[Full Name]
[Email Address]
[Optional phone number]

If a web form has a short character limit, include your name, the exact profile URL, one matching identifier, and a request for deletion and future suppression. Keep the longer version in your records.

California CCPA and CPRA deletion template

California residents have separate rights to request deletion and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information when the CCPA applies. The California Attorney General's CCPA guidance explains the law and its current consumer rights. California's deletion-request regulation describes how covered businesses handle deletion requests and exceptions.

A covered business generally has 45 days to respond to a verifiable request. In some circumstances, it can take an additional 45 days after giving notice. That deadline doesn't mean every request is automatically granted; a business may retain information under an applicable exception.

Use this template only if you're actually a California resident and the recipient is subject to the CCPA.

Subject: California CCPA Deletion and Opt-Out Request - [Full Name]

Hello [Broker Privacy Team],

I am a California resident. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA, I am requesting:

1. Deletion of personal information associated with me under California Civil Code section 1798.105.
2. Opt-out of the sale or sharing of my personal information under California Civil Code section 1798.120, where applicable.

Please use these details to locate my records:

Full name: [Full Name]
Other names used: [Aliases or Former Names]
Email address(es): [Email Address(es)]
Phone number(s): [Phone Number(s)]
Current and former addresses or cities: [Details]
Profile or listing URL(s): [Exact URL(s)]

Please delete the information covered by this request and apply any required suppression to prevent future sale or sharing. If you deny any part of the request or retain information under an exception, please identify the category of information retained and the reason for the exception.

If you need to verify my identity, please provide the verification steps through your official privacy channel. Please acknowledge and answer this verifiable request within the time required by the CCPA.

Sincerely,

[Full Name]
[Email Address]
California resident

California's Global Privacy Control, or GPC, can also signal an opt-out of sale or sharing in supported browsers and services. It isn't a substitute for a deletion request, so use the broker's deletion process or DROP when you want data removed.

How California's DROP platform changes the process

California's Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform, known as DROP, is separate from sending an email to an individual broker. It is designed to send a deletion and opt-out request through the state's registered data-broker system.

Before submitting a request, DROP requires you to verify that you're a California resident under the definition in its terms. If the verification providers can't confirm your residency, the platform says you may request a review of that classification under its rules.

The platform's published information says data brokers must process deletion requests at least once every 45 days beginning August 1, 2026. That is a processing cycle, not a promise that every profile will disappear immediately or that every website is covered.

Use DROP when:

• You're eligible as a California resident.
• You want to reach registered data brokers through one state platform.
• You can complete the required residency and identity verification.
• You understand that unregistered companies, source websites, public records, and search engines may remain outside its coverage.

After submitting:

1. Save the request confirmation or tracking information.
2. Check the status through the official platform.
3. Follow up directly with a broker if its listing remains, the broker isn't covered, or the platform identifies an exception.
4. Don't send DROP login information or sensitive documents to a broker through an unsolicited email.

GDPR erasure request template for EU and UK residents

The GDPR and UK GDPR are separate from U.S. privacy laws, although both include a right to request erasure in certain circumstances. Use this template only when you live in the relevant jurisdiction or the organization is otherwise subject to the applicable law.

The right to erasure isn't absolute. An organization may retain information for reasons such as a legal obligation, legal claims, public interest, or another recognized exception. If it refuses, ask which exception applies and how long the information will be retained. A controller normally responds to a GDPR request within one month, although complex requests may take longer with notice.

Don't write that no legal basis for retention exists. Ask the organization to explain its basis if it denies the request.

Subject: Article 17 Erasure Request - [Full Name]

Hello [Data Protection Officer or Privacy Team],

I am requesting erasure of personal data about me under Article 17 of the [GDPR or UK GDPR, as applicable].

Please use the following information to locate my records:

Full name: [Full Name]
Other names used: [Aliases or Former Names]
Email address(es): [Email Address(es)]
Phone number(s): [Phone Number(s)]
Current and former locations: [Details]
Profile or listing URL(s): [Exact URL(s)]

Please erase the personal data associated with these identifiers and confirm the action in writing. If you retain any information, please identify the applicable exception, purpose, and retention period.

Where my data is being used for direct marketing, I also object to that processing and ask you to stop the marketing.

I can complete proportionate identity verification through your official process. Please tell me if further information is necessary.

Regards,

[Full Name]
[Email Address]
[Country of residence]

Use a secure portal for proof of identity or residency if the organization requests it. Don't attach a utility bill or identity document to an unverified address.

Tailor the request to a named broker

Acxiom, Spokeo, BeenVerified, Intelius, Whitepages, and MyLife may use different brands, forms, profile structures, or verification steps. Their contact details can change, so this article intentionally doesn't rely on a permanent privacy@ or optout@ address.

Add this paragraph to the general template when a site shows a specific listing:

For clarity, the listing I want removed is:

Profile URL: [Exact URL]
Name shown: [Name as displayed]
Location shown: [City and State]
Phone or email shown: [Only if displayed]

Please remove this listing and any duplicate record connected with the identifiers above, then confirm whether the record has been deleted or suppressed.

Use these details for common people-search and data-broker sites:

Don't send a request based only on a search result headline. Open the listing, confirm that the information is yours, and record what the page showed before requesting removal.

Free manual requests versus paid removal services

You don't need a paid service to send these requests. The tradeoff is time and follow-up.

A paid service doesn't create a universal deletion right and shouldn't be treated as a guarantee. Ask exactly which sites it covers and whether it handles a request that is denied or later reappears.

Follow up when a broker ignores or denies the request

A follow-up should point to the original request instead of starting a new conversation.

Subject: Follow-Up: Personal Data Deletion Request Sent [Date]

Hello [Broker Privacy Team],

I am following up on my deletion and opt-out request sent on [Date]. The request concerned this profile:

[Exact profile URL]

Please confirm whether the request is complete. If any information remains, please identify:

- The information retained
- The reason or applicable exception
- Whether sale or sharing has been disabled
- Whether a duplicate or suppressed profile remains

If additional verification is needed, please provide the steps through your official privacy process.

Thank you,

[Full Name]
[Email Address]

For a California request, track the 45-day response period and any extension notice. For a GDPR request, track the usual one-month period and any valid extension notice. A general U.S. opt-out email doesn't have one universal federal response deadline.

If the broker says it can't find you, send the exact profile URL and the smallest set of matching identifiers through its official process. If it denies deletion, ask whether it applied an exception, whether it placed the information on an opt-out or suppression list, and how to appeal or submit additional verification.

For California rights and current enforcement information, review the California Attorney General's CCPA page. For a mistake in a credit report, follow the FTC's instructions for disputing credit-report errors rather than relying only on a data-broker removal email.

When the issue is an inaccurate credit or consumer report

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, is not a general opt-out law for every data broker. It provides separate rules for consumer reports, permissible purposes, accuracy, and disputes.

A people-search profile containing your name doesn't automatically qualify as a consumer report. If the information is being used for credit, employment, housing, insurance, or another regulated eligibility decision, use the dispute process for the applicable consumer reporting company and, when appropriate, the company that supplied the information. The FTC also provides guidance for businesses that furnish consumer-report information in Consumer Reports: What Information Furnishers Need to Know.

Use this narrower template for a specific inaccurate item in a consumer report:

Subject: Dispute of Inaccurate Information in Consumer Report - [Full Name]

Hello [Consumer Reporting Company or Furnisher],

I dispute the following information in my consumer report:

Report or file date: [Date]
Specific item: [Account, address, employment record, or other item]
Why it is inaccurate or incomplete: [Clear explanation]
Correct information: [Correct detail]

Please investigate the disputed item under the applicable FCRA procedure and send me the result in writing. I have attached or provided the following supporting documents through your official dispute channel:

[List of documents]

Full name: [Full Name]
Current address: [Address]
Date of birth: [Only if the official dispute process requires it]
Report or file number: [If available]

Sincerely,

[Full Name]
[Contact information]

Don't demand deletion under the FCRA just because information is unfavorable. Focus on information that is inaccurate, incomplete, unverifiable, or reported in the wrong way.

What an opt-out email cannot do

A successful request may not remove every copy of your information from the internet.

• It may not remove the source record. A broker can copy information from a public record or another business that still publishes it.
• It may not remove search-engine results immediately. A search engine can continue showing a cached or indexed result after the source changes.
• It may not cover other brokers. Removing one profile doesn't remove a similar profile held by a separate company.
• It may not override a legal exception. Ask the broker what it retained and why.
• It may not prevent new collection. A later data feed can create a new listing, which is why periodic searches and follow-ups matter.

Start with one exact profile URL, use the official request channel, and save the confirmation. That record gives you the clearest basis for a follow-up or a jurisdiction-specific complaint if the broker doesn't handle the request properly.

This information is practical consumer guidance, not legal advice.