Searching your own name and finding an Intelius listing with your address, age, relatives, and phone number is unsettling. The good news: Intelius has a real opt-out, it is free, and it is faster than most brokers. The catch nobody tells you up front is that Intelius is one site in a network of four, and your removal only sticks if you understand how that network works. Here is the exact, current process.
The 60-Second Version
Go to suppression.peopleconnect.us, enter and verify your email, search by your legal name and date of birth, find your record, set it to Suppressed, and save. That single request also covers Truthfinder, Instant Checkmate, and US Search. Suppression usually applies within 24 to 72 hours. Below is each step in detail, plus the failure points that send people in circles.
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Why Intelius Is Really Four Sites
Intelius is owned by PeopleConnect, Inc., the same company behind Truthfinder, Instant Checkmate, and US Search. These are not loosely related competitors — they run on shared infrastructure and a shared suppression system. That is why a single opt-out at the PeopleConnect Suppression Center removes your record from all four at once.
This matters in both directions. The upside: you do not file four separate requests. The downside: people who opt out of only Intelius through some third-party guide, then find themselves still listed on Truthfinder, assume the removal failed. It did not — they just need to confirm the suppression covered the network record, which the official tool does by default. Always opt out through the PeopleConnect suppression center, not a random mirror page, so the request applies network-wide.
Step-by-Step: The Intelius / PeopleConnect Opt-Out
Step 1 — Open the suppression center
Go directly to suppression.peopleconnect.us. You can also reach it from Intelius itself: scroll to the footer of intelius.com, click Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, then View Public Data Tools, then Manage My Suppression Rules. Both paths land on the same PeopleConnect tool.
Step 2 — Enter and verify your email
Type in an email address and submit. PeopleConnect sends a confirmation email titled something like Confirm your email address. Click the verification link inside it. This link is time-sensitive — it can expire within about 15 minutes — so do this while you are sitting at your inbox, not later. If you do not see the email, check spam and search for the sender before requesting a new link.
Step 3 — Search for your record by name and date of birth
Once verified, you are taken to the suppression search. Enter your full legal name and date of birth. The DOB is required — it is how the system narrows hundreds of same-name records down to yours. You do not upload an ID or a photo. If you are not comfortable entering a DOB online, skip to the phone/email CCPA route in the "If the tool won't cooperate" section below.
Step 4 — Select your profile and set it to Suppressed
The tool shows matching profiles. Confirm the one that is actually you by checking the listed city, age, and known relatives. Open it, find the Desired Behavior dropdown, choose Suppressed, and click Save. If more than one record matches you (common if you have lived in multiple states), repeat this for each one.
Step 5 — Confirm and screenshot
Take a screenshot of the confirmation. Brokers reset, support tickets get lost, and a dated screenshot of your suppression request is the single most useful thing to have if you ever need to re-assert the opt-out.
How Long It Takes
| Stage | Typical timing |
|---|---|
| Email verification link valid | ~15 minutes |
| Suppression applied after you save | 24–72 hours |
| Listing drops out of Google results | A few extra days (cache refresh) |
| Covers Truthfinder / Instant Checkmate / US Search | Same request, no extra steps |
If the page is still cached in Google after a week, you can request removal of the outdated snippet through Google's "Remove outdated content" tool — but in most cases it clears on its own.
Why Your Listing Comes Back (and What to Do)
Suppression is not deletion. PeopleConnect hides the specific record you matched, but it keeps pulling fresh data from public records, voter files, and other brokers. When a new data point shows up — you move, you get a new phone number, a county uploads a new property record — the system can generate a new listing that your earlier suppression does not cover.
The fix is maintenance, not a one-time heroics. Re-check the suppression center every 60 to 90 days and re-suppress anything new. This is true of every people-search broker, not just Intelius — which is the core argument of our broader guide to removing your info from people-search sites. Opt out once, then put a quarterly reminder on your calendar.
If the Tool Won't Cooperate
Sometimes the suppression search returns no match even though you can see your listing on the public site, or the verification email never arrives. Two backstops:
- CCPA phone request: Call Intelius at (888) 245-1655 and ask to exercise your right to opt out of the sale/sharing of your personal information. This works regardless of which US state you live in — Intelius generally honors these requests nationwide, not just for California residents.
- Email request: Send your opt-out to the Intelius privacy/support address listed in the footer of intelius.com. Include your full name, current city/state, and the URL of the listing you want suppressed. Keep it short and keep the sent copy.
These manual routes are slower than the self-service tool, but they create a paper trail, which is exactly what you want if a listing keeps reappearing.
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What the Opt-Out Does and Doesn't Do
Let's be straight, because the data-removal industry oversells constantly:
- It does suppress your record across the four PeopleConnect sites, for free, usually within a few days.
- It does not remove you from the dozens of unrelated brokers — Spokeo, BeenVerified, Whitepages, Radaris, and so on. Those are separate companies with separate opt-outs. Spokeo, for instance, has its own flow covered in our Spokeo opt-out guide.
- It does not touch the underlying public records (court, property, voter) that brokers buy from. Those are public by law; you are removing the convenient aggregated copy, not the source.
- It does not address breached or leaked data. If your details are floating in a breach dump or infostealer log, no broker opt-out fixes that — that is a separate problem you check with an email breach check.
None of that makes the Intelius opt-out pointless. Aggregated broker listings are what a stranger, an ex, or a scammer finds in 30 seconds. Killing them raises the effort bar significantly. Just go in knowing it is one piece of a bigger picture.
Smart Order of Operations
If you are doing a real privacy cleanup rather than a one-off, here is the efficient sequence:
- See your exposure first. Check your own digital footprint so you are working from a list, not guessing. You will know which brokers actually list you and which do not.
- Hit the high-yield networks. Opt out of PeopleConnect (this guide) and Spokeo first — they cover the most surface area per request.
- Work down the long tail. Use the people-search removal guide for the remaining brokers.
- Check for leaked credentials. Run an email breach check and change any reused passwords.
- Re-scan quarterly. Listings regenerate. A reverse phone lookup on your own number every few months catches new exposure before someone else does.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an Intelius opt-out take?
After you click the verification link in your confirmation email, PeopleConnect typically applies the suppression within 24 to 72 hours. The verification link itself expires fast, so confirm your email right away. Allow a few extra days for the listing to drop out of Google's cache.
Does opting out of Intelius also remove me from Truthfinder and Instant Checkmate?
Yes. Intelius, Truthfinder, Instant Checkmate, and US Search are all owned by PeopleConnect and share one suppression system at suppression.peopleconnect.us. A single verified request suppresses your record across all four, so you do not opt out of each one separately.
Why does my Intelius listing come back after I remove it?
Suppression hides the specific record you matched, but PeopleConnect keeps ingesting fresh data from public records and other brokers. A new address, a new phone number, or a new data source can spawn a new listing your old suppression does not cover. Re-check every 60 to 90 days.
Do I have to give Intelius my date of birth to opt out?
The suppression tool asks for your legal name and date of birth to locate the right record, plus a verified email. You do not upload an ID. If you are uncomfortable entering a DOB, you can instead submit a CCPA request by calling (888) 245-1655 or emailing the privacy address in the site footer — that route is slower but avoids the form.