Getting your address off the internet when someone is looking for you
For most people a published home address is an annoyance. For you it is a physical risk with a specific person attached to it. The free people-search sites are the immediate danger, because they need no account, no payment and no skill to use — someone can find your current address from your name in under a minute.
Shield
For people whose home address being public is a physical risk.
- Coverage
- 1,000+ sources plus a manual sweep
- Cadence
- Rescanned weekly
Why the generic advice doesn't fit
Most privacy guidance is written for someone with no particular threat. Yours is specific, so the priorities change.
- Speed matters more than completeness. Taking down the five free, unpaywalled sites today is worth more than a thorough sweep that finishes next month.
- Relatives are the leak. Brokers cross-reference households, so a listing for your mother or adult child can expose your address even after yours is gone.
- Old addresses matter too, because an address history shows the direction you moved.
- Verification emails and phone codes go to accounts the other person may still have access to. Use an address and number they do not know about before you start.
- 01TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch, Nuwber and SearchPeopleFree first — free, no paywall, current address visible.
- 02ClustrMaps and any address-indexed site, because those survive a name-based removal.
- 03USPhoneBook and reverse-phone sites if you are being contacted.
- 04Whitepages and Spokeo next — high traffic, and first in Google for most names.
- 05Then your relatives' listings, with their permission.
- 06Then Google's own removal tool for anything still appearing in search results.
Two fields, no account, no card. See what is actually out there before deciding anything.
Instruments available specifically to you
These carry more force than an opt-out request, and most people in your position do not know they exist.
Most states run an Address Confidentiality Program that gives you a substitute legal address for public records, voter registration and court filings. Enrolment is usually through the Secretary of State or the Attorney General, often with an advocate's assistance.
Many states allow redaction of your name from county property records if you are a survivor or a protected person. This is one of the few routes to a property record.
If you have a protective order, a documented evidence package of online exposure can support enforcement or modification.
Please read our page on what cannot be removed before you rely on any of this. Court filings, property deeds and voter rolls are public records, and a service that tells you otherwise is selling you a false sense of safety. If you are in immediate danger, an advocate at the National Domestic Violence Hotline can help with safety planning in a way a data-removal company cannot.
The sites to take down first
Free and unpaywalled, which means anyone can use them with no account and no skill. These are the real risk.
Who else we write for
- Law enforcement officers
- Judges and prosecutors
- Doctors, nurses and healthcare workers
- Teachers and school staff
- Journalists and researchers
- Social workers and child protection staff
- Therapists and mental health clinicians
- Public officials and election workers
- Executives and board members
- Military service members and veterans