How to opt out of Spokeo and remove your listing

Spokeo is a people-search site. Its privacy policy says it compiles listings from publicly available sources, including consumer profiles, phone directories, email databases, property records from government offices, public social network profiles, court records, business directories and vital records such as birth, marriage and death certificates. A listing can show a name, age, current and past addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and relatives.

The opt-out form at spokeo.com/optout asks for two things. The first is the URL of the listing, which is the web address shown in your browser when the listing is open. Spokeo gives the format as https://www.spokeo.com/Smith-Sample/Houston/TX/p12345678, and it also accepts the URL of a purchase page that refers to a listing. The second is an email address. Spokeo sends a confirmation email to it, and the request is only complete once you click the link in that email. You do not need a Spokeo account, and the page does not ask for identity documents.

Spokeo's opt-out page says its customer care team can help through its help centre, and gives privacy@spokeo.com as a direct contact. The opt-out page itself does not list a postal address or a phone number for opt-outs.

This guide describes Spokeo's opt-out page and privacy policy as published on 16 October 2026. Companies change their forms and policies, so check the page itself if something looks different. UltoPulto is pre-launch and has not yet processed live requests through Spokeo's form; the steps below are the ones Spokeo publishes.

1. 1.Search for your name on Spokeo. Try former names, nicknames and the cities you have lived in, because each may produce a separate listing.
2. 2.Open each result that is you and copy its URL from the browser's address bar.
3. 3.Go to spokeo.com/optout, paste the URL into the URL field, and enter an email address you can read today.
4. 4.Click OPT OUT. Spokeo sends a confirmation email to the address you gave.
5. 5.Open that email and click the link in it. Spokeo says this is what completes the process.
6. 6.Write down the date, the URL you submitted and the email address you used. Repeat from step 2 for every other listing.

Spokeo states that, depending on the nature of the request and the amount of data, an opt-out should be processed in 24 to 48 hours. Its privacy policy describes the tool as removing public information in real time once a request is complete. The simplest check is to open the listing's URL again after two days and search your name once more.

Spokeo's privacy policy sets out the scope of the tool. It covers public listings on Spokeo.com and other sites Spokeo operates, with one exception: listings on Thatsthem.com, which Spokeo also runs, have their own tool at thatsthem.com/optout. The policy says the opt-out does not apply to listings available to customers of other Spokeo products, and that it cannot remove information from the third-party sources Spokeo collected it from, such as phone books, social networks or government records.

Court records are treated differently. Spokeo says it does not let people opt out of court records about themselves unless they provide a court order of expunction or sealing, which can be emailed to expungement@spokeo.com. Only the records named in the order are suppressed.

The opt-out page also states plainly that opting out of Spokeo does not remove the data from its original source, and that your information may still appear on other websites. Spokeo is one site among many. The data broker checklist lists the others that commonly carry the same details, and the address removal guide covers Google's own removal tool.

Spokeo says that because it continually receives new and updated records from public sources, your information may reappear on Spokeo in the future without notice, and it asks people to check regularly for additional listings. A returned listing usually has a new URL, so it needs a new opt-out request rather than a complaint about the old one.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) gives the same picture for people-search sites in general: opting out does not delete anything from government public records, your details can still appear in reports about relatives, neighbours or associates, and information can be offered for sale again when public records change. The FTC suggests checking sites periodically.

Keep the record you made in step 6. The date, the URL and the confirmation email show what you asked for and when. If a listing reappears, submit it again and add the new date to the same record. If you later use a state privacy law or file a complaint, that history is the evidence you will need.

Spokeo's privacy policy says residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia can ask it to disclose, correct or delete the personal information it holds, through its online portal or by telephone. Note the distinction Spokeo draws: it treats listing data as publicly available information, which it says is outside the scope of those state laws, and it handles listing removals through the opt-out tool instead. If you want to see what a listing contains, the policy says to make that request before you opt out, because opted-out information is no longer available for disclosure.

California residents have a second route. The state's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) is free and sends one deletion request to every registered data broker. You file with your name, date of birth and ZIP code. Brokers have been required to process requests since 1 August 2026, a status can take up to 90 days to appear, and brokers must re-check for new matching data at least every 45 days. The state's guidance says brokers are not required to delete publicly available data, data covered by a legal exemption, or data you gave a business directly, so a DROP request is a complement to the Spokeo opt-out, not a replacement. The California deletion guide explains the process.