You can copy a sample data broker dispute letter, put your details in, and mail it when a people-search site or other broker will not honor an online opt-out. A letter is just a paper request. It won't automatically wipe you from every database that later bought a copy of your file.

Want one you can send this week?

A letter is not always the first move

Start on the company's website. The FTC's people-search guidance tells you to use the opt-out link on that site, then repeat the same steps on other people-search pages. Repeat it for every site that lists you.

Thing is, some forms fail, some ask for extra ID, and some never show an opt-out at all. Search the company name plus "opt out" or "remove my information" if the link is missing. That is the method the FTC describes.

Keep screenshots and confirmation emails.

Your name can still show up in a relative's listing after you opt out. The FTC flags that limit.

What the letter can ask for

People mix three jobs into one envelope. They are not the same.

A U.S. consumer letter that cites GDPR as if it were a California right will not help. GDPR is an EU rule. This page is for U.S. readers.

Sample data broker dispute letter template

Copy the block below into a document. Swap the brackets for your real information. Use the mailing address from that broker's current privacy policy, not an old blog post.

This is general information, not legal advice.

[Your full name]
[Your mailing address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Date]

[Data broker legal name]
[Address from the company's privacy policy]

Re: Opt-out and deletion request for [your full name]

Dear Privacy Team:

I am requesting that you:
1. Stop selling or sharing my personal information for marketing.
2. Delete the personal information you maintain about me, unless a law requires you to keep it.
3. Confirm in writing what you did.

I am the consumer identified below:
- Full name: [name]
- Other names used: [aliases]
- Current address: [address]
- Prior addresses: [if needed]
- Email and phone: [contact]
- Date of birth: [include only if the company asks for it]

If you need more information to locate my records, write to me at the address above. Please do not use this request as a reason to create a new public listing.

I am sending this by certified mail. Please confirm within the time your privacy policy or applicable law requires.

Sincerely,
[Signature]
[Printed name]

Do not attach a full Social Security number. Use the last four digits only if that broker already identifies you that way and its form requires it. Send copies of ID, not originals.

To be honest, a vague letter that just says "delete me" gets stuck. The broker has to match you.

Fill it in, attach proof, and mail it

Work through these steps.

1. Confirm you have the right company. Marketing brokers, people-search sites, and credit bureaus are different businesses even when they share a brand family.
2. Pull the mailing address from the broker's own privacy policy or official dispute page.
3. List only the data you can stand to put on paper. A prior address helps them find the file. A full SSN usually does not belong in the letter.
4. Attach copies of a photo ID or a utility bill if the company asks for verification. Redact numbers you do not need to show.
5. Mail it certified with return receipt so you can prove the date it arrived.
6. Calendar a check-in. Use the deadline in that company's privacy policy if it states one.

If the site still has a working online form, submit that too and keep the confirmation number.

A certified letter to the wrong office can vanish. A headquarters address that only accepts legal service, or a P.O. box the privacy policy replaced last year, will not help you, so check the live policy page the morning you print.

If you live in California, use DROP first

Turns out a single state portal can reach the registered broker list in one request. DROP lets a California resident send a deletion request to registered data brokers instead of writing each firm by hand.

You will have to verify you are a California resident. If the automated check fails, the site explains a review path.

Registered brokers must access that deletion list at least once every 45 days beginning August 1, 2026, and delete matching personal information on a rolling 45-day basis, with limited exceptions, according to the CPPA data broker page and CalPrivacy's DROP explainer. CalPrivacy describes coverage of more than 600 active data brokers.

A paper letter still makes sense for a company that is not in the portal, or for a dispute the portal does not cover. Don't skip DROP if you qualify.

Wrong data on a credit report is not a marketing opt-out

Credit files use a federal dispute track, not a marketing opt-out. Experian lets you dispute online or by mail to P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013, and it asks for copies of documents, not originals, on its credit dispute page; Equifax and TransUnion keep separate files, so you dispute each bureau on its own.

If nobody answers

Use the paper trail. File a complaint when a credit bureau will not investigate, or when a broker ignores the process it published.

For credit reports and other consumer financial files, submit a CFPB complaint. The CFPB says companies generally respond in 15 days. You then have 60 days to comment on that response.

Keep copies. Keep the receipt. Keep the envelope scan too, because you will not remember the tracking number in two months, and you'll want that number if you have to complain.

Pick one listing you can see today. California residents should start with DROP, because one verified request can reach the registered broker list. A credit error belongs on that bureau's dispute page, and a people-search site with no working form is the case for the template. Print it, copy the address from the live privacy policy, and take the envelope to the post office.