If you are reading this, you probably have a reason you do not want your address found online. Maybe it is a safety concern. Maybe it is an ex, a stalker, a disgruntled former employee, or someone from your past who you need to keep at a distance. Maybe you simply believe your home address is private information that does not belong on the open internet. Whatever your reason, it is valid, and we are going to walk you through every step to make your address as hard to find as possible.
Where Your Address Is Exposed
Your home address ends up online through multiple channels, and addressing just one of them will not solve the problem. The major sources include data broker and people-search sites, voter registration records, property records, court filings, business registrations, social media profiles, domain registration (WHOIS), and direct submissions you may have made to websites over the years. A thorough cleanup requires working through all of these.
Data Brokers and People-Search Sites
This is where most people discover their address is public. Sites like BeenVerified, Whitepages, TruePeopleSearch, Spokeo, Radaris, and dozens of others aggregate public records and sell access to personal information including your current and past addresses. Each site has its own opt-out process. The bad news is that there are hundreds of these sites. The good news is that many of them share data sources, so removing yourself from the largest ones can cascade to smaller ones over time.
Start with the biggest sites first. Our guides cover the opt-out process for BeenVerified, Whitepages, and TruePeopleSearch. After those, work through Spokeo, Radaris, MyLife, PeopleFinder, and USPhoneBook. Each opt-out typically takes a few minutes and processes within a few days to a few weeks.
Google's Results About You
Google launched a feature called "Results About You" that lets you request removal of search results containing your personal contact information, including your home address. This is one of the most powerful tools available because it targets the search engine directly. You can access it through your Google account settings or by searching for your address on Google and using the three-dot menu next to results that display it.
When approved, Google removes the specific search result from appearing when someone searches for your name. This does not remove the information from the source website, but it removes it from the place where most people would find it.
Voter Registration
Voter registration records are public in most states and include your name and address. Some states offer confidential voter programs for people with documented safety concerns, such as domestic violence survivors, law enforcement officers, judges, or victims of stalking. Contact your county elections office to find out what is available in your state. Even in states without formal programs, you may be able to use a P.O. Box or an alternative address for voter registration.
Property Records
If you own property, your name and address are linked in county assessor and recorder databases. These are some of the hardest records to hide because they are considered essential public records for transparency in property ownership. Options include placing your property in a trust or LLC, which replaces your personal name with the entity name in public records. This does not retroactively remove your name from historical records, but it prevents your name from appearing on new filings going forward.
For broader information about all types of public records on Google, our public records removal guide covers the full landscape.
Court Records and Business Filings
If you have been involved in any court case or registered a business, your address may appear in those filings. Court records can potentially be sealed depending on the case type and jurisdiction. Business filings at the secretary of state level can sometimes be updated with a registered agent address instead of your personal address. Going forward, always use a registered agent or P.O. Box for any public filing that requires an address.
Domain Registration
If you have ever registered a domain name, your address may be in the WHOIS database unless you used privacy protection at the time of registration. Most registrars now offer free WHOIS privacy. Check your domain registrations and enable privacy protection on all of them. For domains where your address was previously exposed, the old records may still be cached by WHOIS history services, but these become less visible over time.
Ongoing Monitoring
Removing your address from the internet is not a one-time task. Data brokers re-aggregate information regularly, and new sites appear all the time. Set up Google Alerts for your name and address so you get notified when new results appear. Plan to re-check the major people-search sites every few months and re-submit opt-outs as needed.
For people with serious safety concerns, this ongoing maintenance is not optional. We offer monitoring as part of our service for exactly this reason.
If you have tried these steps and are still stuck, or if you just do not have the time, we can help. Book a consultation or book removal services and we will take it from here.
Related Resources
- Public records removal from Google — Remove all types of public records from search
- Remove your profile from BeenVerified — Step-by-step guide
- Remove your profile from Whitepages — Step-by-step guide
- Online reputation management services — We handle the cleanup for you