I automated opt-outs for 500 data broker sites (open source)

Automated data broker opt-out runner for macOS, Linux, and Windows. Removes your personal information from 500+ people-search sites and data broker databases on a monthly schedule - with CAPTCHA solving, persistent state tracking (so completed opt-outs aren't resubmitted every run), and an iMessage notification when done. Privacy & data flow ->

Each month, the script:

Searches each data broker site for your name + stateFinds your specific listing(for sites that need a profile URL)** Fills and submitsthe opt-out form automatically Solves CAPTCHAsviaCapSolver(AI-powered, ~$0.001/solve) Skipsbrokers you were already removed from recently (90-day re-check window) Sends you an iMessagewith the results summary Opens**any sites that require manual action in your browser

• Node.js 18+
• macOS, Linux, or Windows (scheduling adapts automatically) Playwrightbrowsers installed

npx playwright install chromium
git clone https://github.com/stephenlthorn/auto-identity-remove.git
cd auto-identity-remove

npm install

node setup.js

./run.sh

node setup.js

guides you through:

Step	What it does
Personal info
Name, city, state, ZIP, email, phone
Aliases
Past names or variations (e.g. "Steve Doe")
CapSolver key
For CAPTCHA-protected opt-out forms
One-time accounts
Creates accounts on sites that require login (stored in config.json , gitignored)
iMessage
Phone number to text the results summary to
Monthly schedule
Registers a monthly job to run on the 1st at 9am (launchd / systemd / crontab / schtasks - detected automatically)

Your personal info never leaves your machine. config.json

and state.json

are both gitignored.

Some opt-out forms have reCAPTCHA. Without CapSolver, those sites go to your manual list instead of being handled automatically.

• Sign up at capsolver.com- free, pay-as-you-go - Add $1-2 of credits (enough for months of use at ~$0.001/solve)
• Paste your API key when setup.js

asks, or add it toconfig.json

:

"capsolver": {
  "apiKey": "CAP-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
}

CapSolver is optional.Without it, CAPTCHA-protected sites are flagged as manual and opened in your browser for completion. Pass--no-capsolver

to skip them entirely rather than opening the browser.

The included Dockerfile

uses the official Playwright image, so Chromium and all system dependencies are pre-installed. No Mac required.

docker build -t auto-identity-remove .

docker run --rm \
  -v $(pwd)/config.json:/app/config.json \
  -v $(pwd)/state.json:/app/state.json \
  auto-identity-remove node watcher.js --dry-run

docker run --rm \
  -v $(pwd)/config.json:/app/config.json \
  -v $(pwd)/state.json:/app/state.json \
  auto-identity-remove

Persistent state: mount state.json

so completed opt-outs are remembered between container runs. If the file does not exist yet, create an empty one first: echo '{}' > state.json

.

When running headless or in Docker you won't have iMessage or a desktop - use a webhook instead. Set notify.webhook

in config.json

to any ntfy.sh, Slack incoming-webhook, or Discord webhook URL:

"notify": {
  "textTo": "",
  "webhook": "https://ntfy.sh/my-private-channel"
}

The tool POSTs {"text": "<summary>"}

after every run. Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows - the webhook fires in addition to (not instead of) any platform notification that is available.

auto-identity-remove/
├── setup.js            ← Run once: interactive setup + scheduling
├── watcher.js          ← Main runner
├── brokers.js          ← Broker list with opt-out strategies
├── run.sh              ← Manual trigger
├── config.example.json ← Template (copy → config.json)
├── package.json
├── .gitignore
│
├── config.json         ← YOUR personal info (gitignored, created by setup.js)
├── state.json          ← Opt-out history / skip logic (gitignored)
└── logs/               ← Per-run JSON logs (gitignored)

state.json

tracks when each broker was last successfully opted out. The default re-check window is 90 days - brokers typically re-add your data within that window, so the script re-submits when it's time.

{
  "optOuts": {
    "Spokeo": {
      "lastSuccess": "2026-05-01T09:00:00.000Z",
      "totalRuns": 3,
      "detail": ""
    }
  }
}

On each run you'll see:

✅ Submitted (form accepted)

• opt-out form was submitted this run📧 Awaiting email confirm

• broker replied "check your email to confirm"; click the link in your inbox. Auto-retried after 14 days if still pending.⏭ Skipped (fresh)

• removed recently, re-check not due yet🔍 Not listed

• your name wasn't found on that site📋 Manual needed

• opened in your browser for you to handle❌ Error

• network/timeout issue, will retry next run💀 Dead (stale URL)

• broker URL is gone (DNS/404); not counted as an error

Submitted ≠ confirmed deleted.Usenode watcher.js --verify

for spot-check verification. See[STATUS.md]for a per-broker confidence table.

This tool covers 500+ data brokers in two tiers:

Tier	Count	Confidence
Explicit brokers (
42	Hand-mapped with specific selectors. verified entries have been tested live; untested ones may have drifted since they were added.
Generic runner
~490	Best-effort heuristic - tries 4 strategies (Do Not Sell click, OneTrust/TrustArc, generic form, DSAR link). Many succeed; some fail silently.

The ✅ Submitted

count means the form was accepted by the broker. It does not prove deletion. To check:

• Run node watcher.js --verify

• re-searches each broker where a successful opt-out was recorded and reports whether your name still appears. - Look at the 📧 Awaiting email confirm

section after each run - these are half-done until you click the link.

If you want to know exactly which brokers are hand-verified vs heuristic, see STATUS.md.

Site	Method
Spokeo	Search → find listing → opt-out form
WhitePages	Search → find listing → suppression form
FastPeopleSearch	Search → opt-out form
TruePeopleSearch	Direct opt-out form
BeenVerified	Opt-out search form
Radaris	Search → privacy form
Intelius	Direct opt-out form
PeopleFinders	Direct opt-out form
PeopleSmart	Direct opt-out form
MyLife	Search → opt-out
Nuwber	Search → removal form
FamilyTreeNow	Direct opt-out form
CheckPeople	Direct opt-out form
ThatsThem	Direct opt-out form
USPhonebook	Direct opt-out form
PublicDataUSA	Direct opt-out form
SmartBackgroundChecks	Direct opt-out form
SearchPeopleFree	Direct opt-out form
PeopleSearchNow	Direct opt-out form
InfoTracer	Direct opt-out form
SocialCatfish	Direct opt-out form
NationalPublicData	Direct opt-out form
ClustrMaps	Direct opt-out form
PrivateRecords	Direct opt-out form
Acxiom
Direct form (feeds dozens of downstream brokers)
LexisNexis
Direct form (legal/financial data)
ZoomInfo
Direct form (B2B professional data)
Clearbit
Direct form (B2B enrichment data)
Pipl	Email opt-out via Mail.app

generic-runner.js

handles the remaining ~470 brokers from two public datasets:

Dataset	Source	Count

BADBOOLFor each site it tries four strategies in order:

• Click a "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" button
• Opt out via OneTrust / TrustArc / Osano privacy manager
• Fill any generic opt-out form (email, name, state) and submit
• Find and record a DSAR / data request link for manual follow-up

Sites requiring manual action are opened in your browser automatically.

Site	Why manual
Google - Results About You	Requires Google account interaction
Google - Outdated Content	Case-by-case URL submission

Edit brokers.js

and add an entry:

{
  name: 'NewBrokerSite',
  method: 'direct-form',           // or 'search-form', 'email', 'manual'
  optOutUrl: 'https://example.com/opt-out',
  formFields: {
    'input[name*="first" i]': F,   // F, L, N, E, ST, Z are from config
    'input[name*="last"  i]': L,
    'input[type="email"]':    E,
  },
  submitSelector: 'button[type="submit"]',
  captchaLikely: false,
  priority: 2,
}

PRs welcome - especially for brokers with verified working selectors.

./run.sh

Dry-run mode - navigates to each site and fills forms but does NOT submit anything. Good for verifying what the script will do before your first real run:

node watcher.js --dry-run

Or to run in the background and log output:

./run.sh >> logs/manual-run.log 2>&1 &

Run a read-only spot-check to see whether previous opt-outs are still in effect:

node watcher.js --verify

This opens a browser, searches each broker where you have a recorded successful opt-out, and reports what it finds. No forms are submitted, nothing is written to state.json

.

Output is grouped into three sections:

Section	Meaning
VERIFIED CLEAR
Your name was not found in the broker's search today
STILL LISTED
A listing was found - the opt-out may have failed, or your data was re-added
UNVERIFIABLE
The broker uses a direct-form, email, or manual method - no automated search signal exists to check

A dated JSON report is saved to logs/verify-YYYY-MM-DD.json

.

Important caveats:

• Only search-form

brokers (those with asearchUrl

andlistingPattern

) can be checked automatically. Direct-form and email opt-outs are alwaysunverifiable

. - "Verified clear" means your name was not found in one search today. It is not a legal guarantee of deletion. Brokers routinely re-ingest data from upstream sources. - "Still listed" can mean the opt-out failed or the broker re-added your data since the last successful opt-out was recorded. Either way, re-runningnode watcher.js

will attempt removal again. - If the broker's search page is down or slow, the result is classified as unverifiable

(a timeout is not counted as "still listed").

WARNING: This feature may violate broker Terms of Service.Submitting fabricated opt-out requests to data broker sites is ethically questionable and could expose you to legal risk. Use at your own discretion. This feature isoff by defaultand is provided only as a research/experimental tool.

The --pollute N

flag submits N

randomly-generated fake person records to data brokers that are explicitly tagged acceptsBogus: true

in brokers.js

. The goal (inspired by a suggestion on HN) is to flood broker databases with junk records, degrading the accuracy of their search results.

node watcher.js --pollute 10

Each fake record uses:

• A random name from a small fixture list (not real people)
• A US city/state/zip from a fixture of 50+ valid combos (not your address)
• A 10-digit phone with an area code valid for the fake state
• A randomised firstname.lastname+XXXXXX@gmail.com

email

Only brokers tagged acceptsBogus: true

in brokers.js

will receive noise submissions. Currently tagged: ThatsThem, SearchPeopleFree, PeopleSearchNow, InfoTracer, SocialCatfish. These are direct-form brokers with no SSN/DOB gate.

Regular opt-outs run first - noise submissions happen after the normal run. The --pollute

flag has no effect on your real opt-out submissions.

The Markup dataset is years old; many of the ~489 generic opt-out URLs now 404 or fail DNS lookup. These are classified as 💀 Dead (stale URL)

in run output and do not count as errors.

After several runs have accumulated in logs/

, trim permanently-dead hostnames from future runs so they are skipped without any network request:

node scripts/prune-dead.js

The script:

• Reads every logs/run-*.json

file - Finds hostnames whose status was dead

inevery run they appeared in - Merges them into data/dead-urls.json

(deduped, sorted) - Prints a summary of how many new hosts were added

The script is idempotent - running it twice produces no change. You can add it as a post-run step or run it manually whenever you want to prune the dead list.

data/dead-urls.json

is committed to the repo so the dead list is shared with all clones.

Platform	Command
macOS (launchd)
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.auto-identity-remove.plist then rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.auto-identity-remove.plist
Linux (systemd)
systemctl --user disable --now auto-identity-remove.timer then rm ~/.config/systemd/user/auto-identity-remove.{service,timer}
Linux (crontab fallback)
Run crontab -e and delete the auto-identity-remove line
Windows (schtasks)
schtasks /Delete /TN auto-identity-remove /F

This tool supports non-US users with a few important caveats.

setup.js

will prompt forCountry(2-letter ISO code, e.g.CA

,GB

,AU

) and then replace the US-centric "State" / "ZIP code" prompts withProvince/Region andPostal code prompts that accept any format (K1A 0A6

,SW1A 1AA

,2000

, etc.) with no coercion.- Phone numbers for non-US users are stored verbatim - no (xxx) xxx-xxxx

reformatting is applied. lib/forms.js

automatically tries province/postal/postcode HTML field variants (e.g.input[name*="province"]

,input[name*="postcode"]

) when filling forms for non-US users, with no change needed in broker definitions.- A country <select>

on opt-out forms is targeted and filled with your 2-letter country code when present. - Global brokers (ZoomInfo, Clearbit, Acxiom, Radaris, etc.) are attempted for all users.

The following brokers are flagged usOnly: true

and are silently skipped when your configured country is not US

. These sites index US public records, voter data, or phone directories - a non-US person definitionally has no record to remove there:

Broker	Reason
Spokeo	US people-search (state-keyed search)
WhitePages	US white-pages directory
FastPeopleSearch	US people-search
TruePeopleSearch	US people-search
BeenVerified	US background-check (requires US state)
USPhonebook	US phone directory
PublicDataUSA	US public records

All other brokers in the list are attempted regardless of country.

US people-search sites (Spokeo

, WhitePages

, etc.) hold records sourced from US public records - if you have never lived in the US, your data is very unlikely to appear on these sites. The script skips them for you automatically.

A fair concern raised by some users: aren't you just confirming your data to the brokers by filling out their forms?

A few things worth knowing:

These brokers already have your info. You're not revealing anything new - you're using the legally-required removal mechanism they're obligated to provide.CCPA (California) and similar state laws require brokers to honor opt-out requests. Submitting the form creates a legal obligation to remove you. Doing nothing does not.The script uses info you're already listed under- your name as it appears publicly, your state, your email. It doesn't add new data points.** The alternative is worse.**Every month that passes, more brokers scrape and resell your data. Opt-outs are imperfect, but they work more often than not.

That said: if you're in a situation where even confirming your email address to a broker is a risk, this tool is not the right approach. Consider a paid service that uses a proxy email.

California is launching an official Delete Me opt-out registry on August 1, 2025. Once registered, data brokers are legally required to delete your info automatically - no individual form submissions needed for participating brokers.

Register at: ** optoutregistry.oag.ca.gov** (live August 1)

Recommended: Register with the CA Delete Registry first, then run this script for the brokers that aren't covered.

Paid services like Incogni ($96/yr) or Optery ($39/yr) are excellent and cover more brokers with professionally maintained opt-out flows. This tool is for people who want full control, transparency, and no recurring subscription - or who want to handle the gaps those services miss (Acxiom, LexisNexis, ZoomInfo, Clearbit).

Using both is the strongest approach: a paid service for the bulk of brokers + this script for the gaps.

MIT

source & further reading

github.com — original article