How to Remove Your Personal Information From Public-Records Sites
A plain-language guide to getting your name, address, and other details taken down: the free way and the faster paid way.
Found yourself on a people-search site? Optery finds every site listing your name, address, and relatives, files the removals for you, and keeps them from coming back. Start with a free scan to see where you show up.
Remove my data now Affiliate link · we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.We run criminal.com, a public-records search site, so the request we hear most is the opposite of what most visitors want: “How do I get my own information taken down?” Here is the honest answer. The details you see online (your name, age, past addresses, relatives, sometimes a mugshot) come from data brokers and people-search sites such as Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, and Radaris. They pull it from public records and republish it. Criminal.com is a search guide, not one of those databases, so we cannot delete anything for you. But you have a right to get it removed, and there are two ways to do it.
Two ways to get removed
Do it yourself
Free · slower
- Search your own name in Google and note every people-search site that shows your profile (Spokeo, Whitepages, MyLife, BeenVerified, Radaris, and similar).
- On each one, find the opt-out page, usually linked in the footer as “Do Not Sell My Info” or “Opt Out.” Submit the request and confirm it by email. Plan on 10 to 15 minutes per site.
- Under California's privacy law, brokers generally have 45 days to take a listing down. Check back in a couple of months, because they often re-add you when they refresh their data.
- California residents: skip the one-by-one grind. The state's free DROP tool sends one deletion request to 500+ registered brokers at once. It is open now; brokers must start clearing requests on August 1, 2026.
Have it done for you
Paid · faster, ongoing
- A removal service does the same work at scale: it finds the brokers listing you, files the opt-outs, and keeps re-filing every month so listings don't creep back.
- Worth paying for if your name is on dozens of sites, or you've opted out before and watched it all come back.
- Plans run from a few dollars a month to about $100 to $150 a year. Most run a free scan first, so you can see how exposed you are.
Our pick: Optery. It scans 300+ people-search sites, shows you exactly where you appear, then files the opt-outs for you. Run the free scan first to see your exposure.
Start with Optery (free scan) Affiliate link · we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.Common questions
Can I remove myself from criminal.com?
There is nothing to delete on criminal.com itself, because we are a search guide, not a database. The profile you found lives on a people-search site that pulls from public records. Opt out there directly, or have a removal service clear it across every site at once.
How do I get a mugshot or arrest record off the internet?
Mugshots get copied across people-search and mugshot sites, so you usually have to opt out of each one. If a court sealed or expunged the case, say so in your request, as most sites will pull a sealed record. The official court record is separate, and removing that means going through the court's expungement process, usually with a lawyer.
Is a paid removal service worth it?
If you're on a handful of sites and have a free afternoon, do it yourself and save the money. Pay for a service if you're on dozens of sites, or you've opted out once and the listings came back. Chasing the same brokers by hand every few months gets old fast, and the paid option keeps re-filing for you automatically.
How much does removal cost?
Doing it yourself costs nothing but time. Paid services run roughly $10 to $15 a month, or about $100 to $150 a year, depending on the plan and whether you cover family members. Most let you run a free scan before you pay.
Can I really get removed for free?
Yes. Every legitimate data broker is legally required to offer a free opt-out, and California's free DROP tool reaches 500+ of them with a single request. Free just means you do the legwork, and repeat it when listings reappear.
If I opt out, does it stay gone?
Not necessarily. Brokers rebuild their lists from fresh public records, so a profile you removed can resurface months later. That is the whole reason subscription services exist: they re-file your opt-outs on a schedule so you don't have to keep watching.