GHOSTHow to get your address off people-search sites
Data brokers sell your address and phone number to anyone. California's new DROP tool makes removal far easier. Here's how it works, wherever you live.
Search your name and you'll probably find your home address, phone number, age and relatives on a handful of people-search sites. They get it from data brokers, companies that buy and resell public records, purchase histories and app data.
If you live in California
California's Delete Act created DROP, a free state tool that sends one deletion request to every registered data broker at once. Brokers have had to start processing those requests since August 2026, and they must check for new matches regularly so you don't reappear.
- Go to the California Privacy Protection Agency's DROP site and verify you're a California resident.
- Add the emails, phone numbers and other details you want removed.
- Submit once. Brokers pull your request on their own schedule.
Everywhere else
Outside California there's no single form yet. Removal means opting out site by site, and each site has its own process. Start with the big people-search sites, since they feed many smaller ones. Expect to repeat it: brokers often relist people months later when they buy fresh data.
Stop new listings
Removal fixes what's already out there. To slow what comes next, use a masked email and phone number when you sign up for stores, apps and newsletters, so your real details don't end up in the next data sale.
Where Ghost helps
Veil files DROP for California residents, runs opt-outs on the major people-search sites for everyone else, rechecks them monthly, and gives you masked emails and a masked number on paid plans.