Whitepages opt-out: a detailed guide to removing your data

What is Whitepages?

Whitepages.com is a major data broker website that collects and posts personal information online. The details it discloses vary from phone numbers, home addresses, and age to criminal and lien records, family connections, and property details. These can be accessed either for free or for a small fee. As stated on the website, Whitepages believes “in the power of data and the good it plays in our online world.”

However, having your personal information on data broker sites exposes you to numerous risks, including financial fraud and identity theft. To remove your listing from Whitepages, you are required to fill out an opt-out form on their website and verify your request over the phone.

Whitepages opt-out step-by-step instructions

In short (detailed steps below):

1. Go to Whitepages.com and search for your profile
2. Once you find a matching profile, click the “View details” button
3. Copy the profile URL
4. Go to Whitepages’ opt-out page whitepages.com/suppression-requests
5. Submit the profile URL you copied
6. Click “Remove me”
7. Submit the reason behind your opt-out request
8. Submit your phone number
9. Answer the verification call and provide the verification code displayed on Whitepages

Step 1: Look yourself up on Whitepages

Open Whitepages.com. Enter your full name and specify your city and state in the search fields. Then click the “Search” button.

Step 2: Agree to the terms

If prompted, agree to “Terms of Service and Privacy Policy” and click the “Continue to Results” button.

Step 3: Locate and open your record

Find a matching listing. If you see the “View Full Report” button next to your record, don’t click it, as you’ll be directed to checkout. Instead, scroll down until you find another matching profile with the “View Details” button next to it. To identify your listing quickly, take note of addresses and relatives in the record preview. You can also use the age filter on the left.

Step 4: Copy the record URL

Scroll through the record to make sure you’ve opened the right one. Then, copy the page URL in the browser address bar.

Step 5: Navigate to the Whitepages opt-out form

Go to the Whitepages opt-out page. Paste the URL of the listing you copied and click on “Next.” If you found several matching listings, you’ll need to submit separate requests for each one.

Step 6: Verify it’s your listing

At this point, Whitepages will ask you to verify your information. Check if your name and address match up and click the “Remove Me” button to proceed with the removal process.

Step 7: Specify the reason for removal from Whitepages.com

Whitepages asks everyone to select one of four reasons for opting out of their website:

• My profile information is incorrect
• I am receiving spam calls and junk mail
• I am being harassed or stalked by someone
• I just want to keep my information private

Select the reason that fits your case and click the “Next” button. We went with the “I just want to keep my information private” option.

Step 8: Submit your phone number to verify your identity

Whitepages.com requests a phone number to confirm your identity and validate your removal request with a phone call. Enter your number, check the box underneath, and click the “Call now to verify” button.

Note that it is important to provide your real phone number and answer the phone call quickly since the verification calls from Whitepages come in fast.

Step 9: Provide the verification code displayed on the screen

You will receive a robocall from Whitepages, asking for the verification code displayed on the screen. Dial this code. The robot will tell you that your opt-out request was accepted.

Whitepages.com has received your opt-out request.

What to expect after submitting an opt-out request

Typically, Whitepages completes removal requests in a couple of days. However, in our experience, it may take longer. We recommend running a new search to check if your listing has been removed. If you saved the listing URL, you can also try opening the page. In case your information is still up after two weeks, contact Whitepages customer support.

Note that removal isn’t permanent. Like other data brokers, Whitepages regularly updates its database and publishes newly obtained information. This means that a new listing with your name may appear at any time, and it will require a new opt-out request.

Why does my listing still appear in search engines?

Search engines like Google and Bing maintain their own indexes of web pages. Even when a page changes or disappears, the search engines may still show a previously indexed version of it, including the old URL or snippets containing the information that’s been removed.

Search engines periodically recrawl pages and update their indexes, so eventually, your Whitepages listing will disappear from search results. However, you can speed up the process using specific tools like the Refresh Outdated Content tool for Google or the Content Removal Tool for Bing, Copilot, and DuckDuckGo.

Troubleshooting: what if Whitepages opt-out doesn’t work?

If you encounter issues when trying to submit your opt-out request via the suppression form, you have the following options:

• Use a support contact form (select “I need to edit or remove a listing” as your issue)
• Use a privacy rights form if you’re a California resident. Another option for CA residents is to send an email request to [email protected]
• Contact Whitepages support directly

How to contact Whitepages directly

You can reach Whitepages support directly by phone at 1-800-991-3077 and by email at [email protected].

Whitepages opt-out video guide

We’ve created a video version of the guide above for your convenience. Watch this tutorial to ensure the success of your opt-out request to Whitepages.

Your data is still exposed on other brokers

Although you have sent a White pages suppression request, many other data brokers still hold your personal information. While opting out of Whitepages.com takes you in the right direction, it isn’t enough to keep your data private.

We recommend that you opt out of these six sites next:

• How to remove yourself from USSearch.com
• How to remove yourself from FastPeopleSearch.com
• How to remove yourself from BeenVerified.com
• How to remove yourself from CheckPeople.com
• How to remove yourself from Nuwber.com
• How to remove yourself from TruePeopleSearch.com

You can send opt-out requests manually or subscribe to Onerep to remove records automatically from 877 data broker sites. Onerep handles the entire process, including finding your listings, submitting removal requests, and verifying that your records are gone. Onerep also performs monthly scans on covered people-search sites to detect new exposures and initiate their removal right away.

Why remove yourself from Whitepages

We recommend you remove yourself from Whitepages.com first-hand as your data’s visibility is at its highest on this site:

1. Site visits: around 34.8 million people look someone’s personal information up on Whitepages each month. ⁽¹⁾
2. Massive database: Whitepages stands out for its massive database of contact information for over 250 million people nationwide.
3. Information exposed:
   • Whitepages shares names, age range, landline phone numbers, current and past home addresses, job, and relatives, and associates for free with no sign-up required.
   • A paid report reveals birthdate, more phone numbers, email addresses, criminal records, property ownership, mortgage info, evictions, licenses and permits, bankruptcies, and other sensitive data points.
4. Exposure on Google: Google has already indexed over 1.8 mln Whitepages profiles making your data easier to find through its search. ⁽²⁾

Sources:
1 – Similarweb
2 – Google

Whitepages quick links

• Opt-out page
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Help Center
• FAQs

About Whitepages

• Founded: 1997
• Headquarters: 2033 6th Ave Ste 1100, Seattle, WA
• Number of employees: 11 – 50
• Website URL: whitepages.com
• Contact email: [email protected]
• Phone number: (800) 991-3077

FAQs

How to submit a Whitepages suppression request?

The fastest way to remove your information is to find your listing, go to the official Whitepages opt-out form, and paste the URL of your listing. After that, you will have to provide your phone number to receive a robocall and submit a verification code.

How does Whitepages get your info?

When it comes to collecting your personal info, Whitepages is no different from any other data broker site. The website primarily compiles its database from public sources like government records. They scrape all of the information they can find and basically add it to their site. Whitepages constantly scours the web for new details to add to its database. They look at social media, third-party sources, and also use phone companies as a source of your personal information.

Is it legal for Whitepages to share your data?

It is completely legal for Whitepages to build up its database. The thing is, everything that they share has previously been reported in public records. Those records are legally accessible to anyone.

What information does Whitepages share?

Being one of the biggest data broker sites, Whitepages shares a lot of information that cannot be found on other data brokers. Here’s the list of things that can potentially be found about you at Whitepages.com: DOB, cell phone number, landline number, home address & housing info, email address, relatives, aliases, social networks, criminal charge history, property ownership details, marriage/divorce records, civil judgments, bankruptcies, tax liens, lawsuits, sex offender records, arrest details, education and work history, income and assets, and much more.

How to remove a Whitepages Premium listing?

Removing a Whitepages Premium listing is no different than removing a listing available for free—it’s done through the suppression form. While Premium listings share more personal details, the opt-out process is universal and doesn’t require additional requests.

Can I request a Whitepages opt-out without a phone number?

Yes, in case you don’t want to submit your phone number, you can send an opt-out request by email to [email protected]. Another option is to submit a support ticket, selecting “I need to edit or remove a listing” as your issue.