Removal guide · PeopleByName
There's no name search on the way in. You browse PeopleByName's People Directory by surname until your listing appears, copy the Record ID from the corner of every card that's you, and paste up to five into one form. The site says removal usually takes less than 24 hours and emails you when it's done.
Who you're dealing with. The PeopleByName profile covers the missing company name and the BBB's F for ignoring removal complaints.
Quick facts
Free · no account
The Record ID on each listing
Up to 5
A Cloudflare screen, then a Turnstile box on the form
Usually under 24 hours
An email once the records are gone, the site says
About 10 minutes
It clears the directory, not the sources. The removal page itself says taking your name down "will not remove it from its original source," so the phone books and real estate listings it copies from keep your details.
Step by step
Open peoplebyname.com/people/. Every search box on the site takes phone numbers only, so this index is the one way in by name. Click the first letter of your last name, keep narrowing through the lists that follow until your surname shows, then click your first name. Repeat for a maiden name or any spelling you might be listed under.
Your name's page lays out one card per listing, with a Record ID in each card's top-right corner. Copy that number, then read the other cards. One person often turns up several times under different IDs, and the removal page warns that each listing must be removed individually.
Open peoplebyname.com/remove.php, headed Remove your name from our People Directory. Type your first and last name as the listing shows them, and an email address you'll check, because the removal notice goes there. Put one Record ID in the first box and any others in the four marked Optional. Add a few words under Reason for removal, wait for the Cloudflare box to show Success!, and click Request Removal. The form gives way to a note that your request has been submitted.
The other product
The removal form promises the People Directory and says nothing about the phone lookup, the site's main product. If your number is the worry, write in through the contact form too, which is where the FAQ's removal link now leads. Pick Would like my information removed and give the number and your Record IDs.
Afterwards
Give it two days, then retrace your path through the directory and check every card you took an ID from. Trust that over your inbox, since one BBB complaint describes a request still unanswered a month after it went in.
If it stalls
A page hangs on the Cloudflare screen. The directory and the form both sit behind one. Turn off your VPN and ad blocker for the tab, or switch browsers.
The Record ID box fills with the wrong thing. It holds ten characters, so copy the digits alone.
The card's still there after a few days. Send the form again, then email support@peoplebyname.com with the Record IDs and the date you filed. California residents can make a CCPA deletion request, which the privacy policy says it answers within 45 days.
Later
Look again every few months. A refresh from its sources can list you again under a new Record ID, and the same form handles that.
California's DROP won't reach it. PeopleByName isn't on the state's data broker registry, so a request through the DROP platform never gets to this site.
Redact scans data broker sites from your device. The free scan shows which of your details are exposed but hides which broker lists you; Premium and Ultimate show where each listing is. They also submit removals for most brokers Redact covers and hand you the opt-out link for the rest, then re-scan on a schedule and file again if you reappear. Coverage varies by broker.
The three step screenshots come from the walk behind the May 27, 2026 version of this guide, and the walked flow is unchanged. The directory and the form now sit behind a Cloudflare check that turns away automated reads, so the form was checked against a July 2026 capture of its code instead of live. That capture corrected the button's name to Request Removal and gave the exact 24-hour wording. The FAQ and contact pages, read live today, added the contact-form route for phone lookups.
Opt-out last verified May 27, 2026.
The page provides general information, not legal advice. Redact is not affiliated with or endorsed by PeopleByName or any other company named here. Spotted an error, or represent this company? Email support@redact.dev.