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If you've ever looked yourself up online and found public records you did not expect, or you suddenly experience an influx of cold callers, but you aren't sure of the source, you're not alone. So much of our information is in the hands of data brokers. The problem of public records that may list your full name, home address, telephone number, and more is compounded by daily data breaches. Your data may be exposed online or, when in the hands of third parties, traded or sold without your explicit consent or permission.

While many data broker services and people search websites are legal, they still often violate your privacy. The problem, however, is that tracking down these companies and forcing them to delete your information -- and not collect it again -- is a time-consuming task that often fails unless you consistently send data removal demands. Manual removals only go so far and are usually time-consuming processes, but the best data removal services shoulder this task for you.

Also: I put 2025's leading data-removal services to the test, and there was a clear winner