How does GhostVault stop spam calls?

Americans received 52.5 billion robocalls in 2025, according to the YouMail Robocall Index. Spam callers source phone numbers primarily from data broker sites that aggregate and sell personal information. GhostVault removes your phone number, home address, and personal details from 500+ data broker and people-search sites — cutting off the supply chain that feeds spam callers. Most users report a significant reduction in spam calls within 30–60 days of removal.

Can GhostVault prevent identity theft?

Yes. The FTC received 1.1 million identity theft reports in 2024, with total consumer fraud losses hitting $12.5 billion — a 25% increase over the prior year (FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024). Identity thieves routinely use data broker sites to obtain personal details — full name, address, phone number, relatives, and employment history — before committing fraud. GhostVault removes this data from 500+ broker sites and monitors for reappearance, materially reducing the personal information available to bad actors.

How long does it take to remove my information?

GhostVault's scan delivers results instantly — no waiting period. Automated CCPA deletion requests are sent to data brokers immediately upon subscription. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, brokers are legally required to process deletion requests within 45 days. In practice, most major brokers (Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified) remove listings within 7–14 days. GhostVault monitors your listings continuously and re-submits removal requests whenever your data reappears.

Which data broker sites does GhostVault remove me from?

GhostVault targets 500+ data broker and people-search sites — more than double the coverage of most competitors. This includes all major brokers: Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, TruePeopleSearch, Intelius, Radaris, PeopleFinders, MyLife, FastPeopleSearch, Nuwber, PeopleLooker, and hundreds of smaller aggregators and resellers. The global data broker market was valued at approximately $277–$303 billion in 2024, according to multiple industry research firms including Grand View Research and ResearchAndMarkets, making comprehensive removal coverage essential.

Is the scan really free?

Yes. GhostVault's exposure scan is completely free — no credit card, no account required. The scan checks your name against 500+ data broker databases and returns a detailed report showing exactly which sites have your phone number, home address, relatives, and other personal information. Paid removal starts at $3.99/month, making GhostVault the most affordable full-coverage data removal service available in 2026.

How much does GhostVault cost?

GhostVault costs $3.99/month on a monthly plan, or $39/year ($3.25/month) on the annual plan. This makes it the lowest-priced comprehensive data removal service in the market — cheaper than Incogni ($6.49/month annual), OneRep ($8.33/month annual), DeleteMe ($10.75/month annual), and PrivacyDuck ($8.25/month annual). All plans include unlimited removal requests, continuous monitoring, and breach alerts.

How do data brokers get your personal information without your consent?

Data brokers collect public records (court filings, property records, voter registrations), purchase consumer data from retailers and app developers, scrape social media profiles, buy data from other brokers, and aggregate information from marketing databases. All of this is legal under current US law.

How do you stop data brokers from selling your information?

You can opt out of each data broker individually (a process that takes weeks), submit CCPA deletion requests if you are a California resident, or use a service like GhostVault that automatically sends deletion requests to 500+ data brokers on your behalf and monitors for re-additions.

Are data brokers regulated?

Data brokers are partially regulated. The FCRA restricts certain uses of consumer reports (employment, credit, tenant screening). CCPA gives California residents deletion rights. Vermont and other states require data broker registration. However, federal comprehensive data broker regulation does not currently exist in the US.

What Is a Data Broker? How They Work and Why It Matters

The Simple Definition

A data broker (also called an information broker or people-search site) is a company that collects personal information about individuals from public and private sources, compiles it into detailed profiles, and sells access to those profiles—usually without the subject's knowledge or consent.

Unlike Facebook or Google, which collect your data to show you ads, data brokers sell your information directly to third parties: marketers, background check companies, employers, landlords, private investigators, law enforcement, and in some cases, scammers and stalkers.

By the Numbers

• $280 billion — the size of the global data broker industry
• 4,000+ data broker companies operating in the US
• 240 million Americans have detailed profiles on broker sites
• $0.50–$15 — what it costs to look up a person

Where Do Data Brokers Get Your Information?

Data brokers are legal because they rely on publicly available information. Here's where they get it:

🏛️ Public Records

Voter registration rolls, property deeds, court records, marriage and divorce filings, bankruptcy records, DMV data, and professional licensing databases are all public information that governments make freely accessible. Data brokers harvest all of it automatically.

📦 Loyalty Programs & Retail Data

When you sign up for a loyalty card, your purchase history and demographics get sold to data brokers. That grocery store rewards card has been sharing what you buy with dozens of companies you've never heard of.

🌐 Social Media & Online Activity

Public social media profiles, forum posts, comment sections, and website registrations all contribute to your profile. Even things you consider private may be scraped if privacy settings allow any public access.

📋 Other Data Brokers

Data brokers buy from each other constantly, cross-referencing and filling in gaps. Your data flows between hundreds of companies, each adding a few more details.

📫 Direct Data Collection

Surveys, sweepstakes entries, magazine subscriptions, and warranty registrations often sell your data directly to brokers. That contest you entered in 2012 is probably still generating data broker revenue.

What Information Do They Have on You?

The typical data broker profile on an American adult includes:

•Full legal name and aliases

•Current and past home addresses

•Phone numbers (mobile & landline)

•Email addresses

•Date of birth

•Relatives and household members

•Estimated income range

•Property ownership and value

•Vehicle registration data

•Employment history

•Social media profiles

•Criminal & civil court records

•Bankruptcy and financial records

•Political affiliation

•Religious affiliation (sometimes)

•Health conditions (from purchase data)

Who Uses Data Brokers?

Direct marketersTarget ads and mail campaigns by age, income, location, and interests

EmployersPre-employment screening and background checks

LandlordsTenant screening before leasing

Insurance companiesRisk assessment when pricing policies

Financial institutionsCredit decisioning and fraud detection

Private investigatorsLocating individuals for civil/legal matters

JournalistsResearching subjects for news stories

ScammersFinding targets and personalizing fraud attempts

Stalkers & doxxersLocating home addresses and family members

Is It Legal?

In most of the US, yes. Data brokering is largely legal because the information they collect is technically "public." Congress has considered federal data broker legislation for years without passing anything comprehensive. The result is a patchwork of state laws:

California (CCPA/CPRA): Strongest protections — residents can request data deletion and opt out of sale
Virginia, Colorado, Texas, Connecticut: Similar but narrower consumer data rights
Most other states: Very limited protections — data brokers operate largely unchecked

Even if you don't live in California, most major data brokers have extended CCPA opt-out rights to all US residents. It's operationally simpler for them than maintaining 13+ separate state workflows.

The Biggest Data Broker Sites

Here are the most prominent data broker and people-search sites you've probably seen in Google results:

Spokeo

BeenVerified

Intelius

Whitepages

TruthFinder

Radaris

Pipl

PeopleFinders

Instant Checkmate

MyLife

Acxiom

LexisNexis

ZabaSearch

FastPeopleSearch

CheckPeople

Plus 485+ others operating at smaller scale

How to Remove Yourself

Every major data broker has an opt-out process. With 500+ sites, manual opt-outs would take 150–200 hours total. And you'd have to repeat it every few months as brokers re-harvest your data from new public records.

Manual approach: Search for your name on each site, find the opt-out form (usually buried in the footer under "Privacy" or "Do Not Sell"), and submit a request. Each site has a different process.

Automated approach: Services like GhostVault automate opt-out requests to 500+ sites and re-submit them automatically when your data reappears, handling the ongoing maintenance that makes manual removal unsustainable.

See What Data Brokers Have on You

Free scan shows which sites have your name, address, and personal information listed. No credit card required.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can data brokers sell my health information?

HIPAA protects your medical records from being shared by healthcare providers, but data brokers can legally infer health conditions from purchase data (supplements, medical devices bought at retail) and sell those inferences. This is a significant and largely unregulated gap.

Do data brokers have my Social Security number?

Some do. Major data brokers like LexisNexis and Acxiom—which sell primarily to businesses—hold SSNs. Consumer-facing sites like Spokeo typically don't display SSNs but may hold them in their databases. The 2024 National Public Data breach exposed SSNs for nearly 3 billion people.

What happens to my data if I opt out?

The site is required to remove your public profile. However, they may retain your data internally for compliance and fraud prevention purposes. New public records can re-trigger your profile being added, which is why ongoing monitoring is necessary.

Are data brokers responsible for identity theft?

Not directly, but they create the conditions for it. Studies have found that data broker sites are among the primary tools identity thieves use to research victims. When a broker gets breached, it can expose detailed personal information at massive scale.

Background Check Opt-Out Guide

Step-by-step guide to removing your data from Spokeo, BeenVerified, and more.

GhostVault Pricing

Remove yourself from 500+ broker sites automatically for $3.99/month.