How to Opt Out of PeopleLooker

We try our best to avoid identity theft by keeping our personal information private. That’s easier said than done, though, especially when there are ‘people search’ sites like PeopleLooker. Anyone willing to pay the service a small monthly fee can see all the data PeopleLooker has on you, and they can do so by providing just your name, phone number, or email address. Now you see why we want to take our names off the internet.

The good news is you can have your personal information removed from people search sites, including PeopleLooker. The bad news? Unless you have a data removal service like Incogni — which can request the removal of your personal data en masse from hundreds of sites — you’d have to do it by hand for each site. We’ll take you through the manual process, showing how we opted out of PeopleLooker ourselves. And then you can decide whether it’s worth going through on your own or it’s worth paying for a service like Incogni instead.

What Is PeopleLooker?

Let’s start with an overview. PeopleLooker is a data broker service, otherwise known as a people search site. You can type in the name, phone number, or email address of the person you want to search, and it will provide you with as many public records as it has on that person. The depth of the search is as astonishing as it is worrying. It can give you the names of known relatives, social media profiles, and even photos.

One bit of good news is that PeopleLooker is a subscription service. Anyone who wants to search PeopleLooker will have to be willing to pay a fee, unlike Spokeo, which offers free searches. That’s a double-edged sword though, because you’ll also have to pay the fee if you want to see everything they have on you before opting out. Fortunately, the opt-out process is free.

>> Related: How to Opt Out of Spokeo

Opting Out of PeopleLooker

As promised, here’s how you can opt out of PeopleLooker manually.

1. Go to the PeopleLooker opt-out page. Some sites make it hard to find this page, like when we opted out of Intelius, but finding that of PeopleLooker is easy. Just go to the bottom of the site’s homepage and click “Do Not Sell My Personal Information.”

The link will take you to the page we took a screenshot of below. You might notice that it’s a different website (BeenVerified), and the prompt explains why. But just to give you a little more context, PeopleLooker and BeenVerified are both under a company called “The Lifetime Value Company.” Opting out of BeenVerified will opt you out of PeopleLooker and vice versa. To proceed, simply click “Do Not Sell My Info.”

2. Enter your name. To see if PeopleLooker actually has your records, enter your first and last name into the field and click “Search.” You should see something like this:

We got only one result — a perk of having an uncommon name — but it’s possible to see multiple records. If you’re having trouble finding yours, you can use the options in the left panel to filter based on the places where you currently live or have lived in the past as well as your age. Once you find your profile, continue by clicking “Proceed to Opt Out.”

3. Verify your email address. The next page will ask you to enter your email address and then complete a CAPTCHA. You’re probably thinking, “What if PeopleLooker collects and sells my email address too?” Well, the page reassures that the email you’ll provide during the opt-out process will not be used for any other purpose besides verification, so at least there’s that.

4. Opt-out complete. Once you’ve verified your email address, you should receive a confirmation that looks something like this:

5. Check your records. It was one of the easier opt-outs we’ve done, and it didn’t feel like there was any resistance from PeopleLooker. We like that that’s the case, but you should still check if your record was truly removed. Go back to the opt-out page and search your name again. See if the record is still there. PeopleLooker says it could take up to 24 hours for the removal to take effect, but in our case, the record was gone after just a few minutes.

Now, let’s backtrack a little to the second step. If you found multiple records that match yours personal information, you actually don’t need to repeat the process over and over for each. According to the verification email we received, you can reply to the same email if you want multiple records of the same person removed. None of us actually had multiple results, but it’s worth the attempt if that’s your case.

Opting Out Using a Data Removal Service

PeopleLooker is actually one of the easier sites to request data removal from, but keep in mind that there are hundreds of people search sites on the internet. Even if they were all as easy to opt out of as PeopleLooker — which we know isn’t the case because we also went through TruthFinder’s opt-out process — it would still take you weeks if not months to remove your personal information online. That’s why we offer you an alternative: Data removal services.

With services like Incogni and DeleteMe, you only need to enter your personal information once. They will then check the people search sites that have records that match yours and generate takedown requests autonomously.

>> Compare: DeleteMe vs. Incogni

To give you one example, Incogni immediately found 79 people search sites with our information and sent opt-out requests to all of them as soon as we signed up. One week in and it found 50 other sites, bringing the total to 129.

One more thing: Even after opting out, most people search sites don’t guarantee that your information won’t ever be added again. That’s why if you’re doing it manually, we recommend sending out opt-out requests every six months or so. Protecting yourself from identity theft isn’t easy. With a data removal service, however, those same people search sites you’ve opted out of will continue to be monitored. So if your personal information pops up again, there’s nothing to worry about.

Why Remove Your Personal Information from PeopleLooker?

We’ve been talking a lot about how to remove personal information from PeopleLooker, but let’s go back to the “why.”

1. The number one reason is, of course, to avoid identity theft. While nothing can completely prevent identity theft — not even the best identity theft protection services — limiting the exposure of your personal information online can help minimize your chances of falling victim. Think of it like hiding your expensive gardening tools in a shed so thieves can’t easily steal them.
2. It helps you avoid scams and spams. It’s a well-known fact that many cold callers get contact information from data brokers. So do scammers. Taking your phone number off the internet can save you from receiving nuisance telemarketing calls and scam phone calls.
3. And it lets you take back your privacy. We all deserve some privacy, which is hard to attain if anyone — from stalkers to nosy neighbors — can just go on a people search site to find out more about you.

Now you see why we’re so eager to help educate our readers about opting out from data brokers like PeopleLooker.

Recap

The good news is that it’s easy to opt out of PeopleLooker. And you hit two birds with one stone, since it will opt you out of BeenVerified as well. You can do it yourself in less than 30 minutes and without having to jump through many hoops. You only need to verify your email and they won’t even ask you for proof that the information is yours. That means while you’re at it, you can also opt your family members out of PeopleLooker.

Opting out of PeopleLooker is just the first step though. There are many other people search sites out there, and many different ways identity thieves and scammers get data about their victims. So, if you’re serious about shielding your personal information from them, we recommend reading our identity theft protection guide next. Stay safe!