Everything You Need to Know About Data Brokers in 2026

Data brokers are one of the least understood parts of the digital economy. They have no relationship with you, yet they know your address history, the names of your relatives, the neighborhood you live in and a guess about your income. This guide is a complete overview: what data brokers are, how they work, the main types, what the law says in 2026, what risks they create and a step-by-step plan to get your information off the market. It is the pillar for a cluster of more detailed pieces, linked throughout. If you want a short answer, here it is: they are companies that collect personal data from many places, combine it into profiles and sell it, and you can remove much of what they publish but must keep checking.

1. What is a data broker?

A data broker is a company that gathers personal information from a variety of sources, processes it and sells or licenses it to others. The defining feature is that the broker is typically not the original collector, and the person described usually does not know it exists. The data may be about you as an individual, as a household or as a member of a group with shared traits.

Different regulators define data brokers differently. California’s law, for example, focuses on businesses that knowingly collect and sell personal information of consumers with whom they do not have a direct relationship. See data brokers: what are they and how to get control of your name.

2. How data brokers collect information

Brokers typically assemble records from several streams.

Government and public records. Property, court, licensing, business filings and, in some places, voter data.
Commercial data. Retail purchases, loyalty programs, warranty cards, magazine subscriptions, utilities and surveys.
Online activity. Cookies, advertising identifiers, app data and website tracking.
Social media and public web. Public profiles and posts scraped from the internet.
Other brokers. Data is licensed and resold across the industry.
Self-reported data. Contests, quizzes and sign-up forms.

See how is your data being collected.

3. The main types of data brokers

Type	What it sells	Main customers
People-search sites	Names, addresses, phone numbers, relatives, public records	The public, investigators
Marketing data brokers	Audience lists, demographic and interest segments	Advertisers, retailers
Risk and fraud data brokers	Identity verification, risk scores	Banks, insurers, online services
Screening and background-check companies	Criminal, eviction and employment histories	Employers, landlords
Credit reporting agencies	Credit files	Lenders, employers, landlords (regulated)
Data append and enrichment firms	Added attributes for customer lists	Businesses
Location and device data brokers	Movement and device signals	Advertisers, analytics firms

See who are the biggest data brokers.

4. What a typical profile contains

Full name, aliases and age or birth year
Current and past addresses
Phone numbers and email addresses
Names of relatives and associates
Property ownership and estimated value
Marital status and household composition
Education and employment
Inferred income range, interests and purchasing habits
Vehicle ownership
Court, bankruptcy and licensing records, depending on the broker

Profiles can contain errors, and different brokers show different pictures of you.

5. How brokers make money

They sell reports and subscriptions to the public, sell lists to marketers, license data to risk and verification companies and provide enrichment services to businesses. The same data may be sold many times. See how much money data brokers make.

Curious what’s already out there? Wiperts’ 100% Free Diagnosis shows which data brokers are listing your name, home address and phone number. Check your exposure free — it takes about a minute.

6. The risks

Fraud and impersonation. Accurate details make scams believable. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 1,008,597 complaints in 2025 with reported losses above $20.8 billion, and the FTC received about 3 million fraud reports with $15.9 billion in reported losses (IC3, FTC).
Stalking and harassment. Free address listings help people find targets.
Unwanted contact. Spam calls, texts and mail increase.
Discrimination and unfair treatment. Inferences and errors can affect screening and offers.
Security. Large databases get breached. See what is a data breach.
Reputation. Wrong or outdated information can mislead.

7. The law in 2026

Federal

There is no comprehensive federal privacy law. The Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates consumer reports used for credit, employment, insurance and housing, and gives you rights to see and dispute them. The Federal Trade Commission enforces against unfair and deceptive practices and publishes guidance at consumer.ftc.gov and ftc.gov. Other sector laws cover health and children’s data.

State

A growing number of states give residents rights to know, delete and opt out of the sale of data. Several require data brokers to register. California has the most developed system. The California Privacy Protection Agency at cppa.ca.gov enforces its laws. California’s Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, DROP, opened to residents on January 1, 2026, and registered brokers must begin processing requests from August 1, 2026, and then continue about every 45 days. Learn more at privacy.ca.gov/drop.

Enforcement

In August 2026 a court ordered the seizure of the people-search site Radaris, whose notice page is at radaris.com/control/privacy. It shows that legal action can reach established brokers, though it remains rare. See why can’t we stop data brokers from selling and using our data.

8. How to get your information off the market

Step 1: Find your listings

Search your full name with your city, your phone number and your address in a private window. Note each site that shows your details. Check relatives and former addresses.

Step 2: Opt out of people-search sites

Start with those showing your current address and phone number. Verified opt-out pages include Spokeo, the PeopleConnect suppression center and That’s Them. See how to opt out of the most popular people search sites and data broker cleanup guide.

Step 3: Use state rights

California residents can use DROP. Residents of other states with privacy laws can send deletion and opt-out requests to major brokers, citing their state law.

Step 4: Handle marketing and credit data

Opt out of prescreened offers at 1-888-5-OPT-OUT, register your numbers at donotcall.gov and consider a credit freeze. See what is a credit freeze.

Step 5: Ask search engines to remove cached results

See want to remove your personal search results from Google.

Step 6: Reduce new data

Decline optional data sharing, use alias emails and skip sweepstakes. See how to set up an alias email address.

Step 7: Re-check

Listings return as brokers refresh. Search again after two weeks, a month and quarterly. See why does my information keep getting re-added online.

9. Credit bureaus and screening companies are different

Credit bureaus and screening companies are regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You usually cannot delete accurate information from them, but you can see your reports, dispute errors and freeze your credit. Order your reports through the official channel described by the FTC at consumer.ftc.gov, and dispute errors in writing. For the issue of reporting agencies selling data, see is there a way to stop reporting agencies from selling and sharing my data.

10. If a broker data leads to harm

If your information is being used for fraud, go to identitytheft.gov and report scams at reportfraud.ftc.gov. If you are being stalked, see managing online stalking response.

11. Three scenarios and what to do

Scenario 1: You are curious and want a baseline. Search yourself, opt out of the top three sites and freeze your credit.

Scenario 2: You have a safety concern. Remove address and phone from every site you find, ask search engines to remove results and check weekly.

Scenario 3: You are a professional with a public profile. Separate business listings from home information, remove personal listings and monitor monthly.

12. Common mistakes

Thinking you are not listed because you never signed up.
Opting out once and not re-checking.
Ignoring relatives’ pages.
Paying a site to remove your listing when a free opt-out exists.
Confusing a credit freeze with broker removal.
Believing that a law has already solved the problem.

13. Questions to ask a broker

What data do you hold on me? Where did it come from? Who have you sold it to? How do I delete it, and how will you confirm deletion? How long will deletion take? Will you keep a suppression record to prevent relisting? In states with privacy laws, these are rights you can invoke formally.

14. How Wiperts fits

Wiperts exists because the process above is repetitive. It scans more than 100 data brokers and people-search sites for your name, address and phone numbers, submits removal requests, removes your personal results from Google and Bing, blurs your home on maps and monitors around the clock so that profiles that return are removed again.

See what is public about you with the free diagnosis.

100% Free Diagnosis: Check Your Exposure

Find out what data brokers have on you. Enter your details in the free scanner on the Wiperts homepage:

First Name
Last Name
Select State
Email Address
Website

Scan Databases Now — no payment is needed to see your exposure report.

15. Key takeaways

Data brokers collect from many sources, combine the data and sell it, and the person described usually has no relationship with them.
Types include people-search, marketing, risk, screening and enrichment companies.
The law is a patchwork, with California’s DROP leading state reform.
Opt out, use state rights, freeze credit and keep checking.

Pick the Wiperts plan that fits your household

Plan	Covers	One-time deep scrub	Then
Individual	1 person	$89	$14/month
Couples (most popular)	2 people	$149	$24/month
Family	Up to 4 people	$199	$39/month

Every plan includes removal of your name, date of birth, salary, home address and phone number from 100+ data brokers and people-search sites, Google and Bing search-result removal, home blurring on maps, and 24/7 monitoring that re-removes your data if it reappears. See plans and start your removal

16. Frequently Asked Questions

What is a data broker?

A company that collects personal information from many sources, organizes it into profiles or lists and sells or licenses it to others, such as marketers, lenders, employers, investigators and the public.

How do data brokers get my information?

From public records, retailers and loyalty programs, apps and websites, advertising networks, surveys and other brokers. You do not need to have dealt with the broker directly.

Are data brokers legal?

In most of the United States they operate lawfully, subject to sector laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act and a growing set of state laws, including registration requirements in some states.

How do I get off data broker lists?

Use each broker’s opt-out process, or state tools such as California’s DROP, and re-check regularly. A removal service can automate the repetition.

Are people-search sites the same as data brokers?

People-search sites are a type of data broker aimed at the public. Other brokers serve marketers, lenders and businesses.

Does a credit freeze stop data brokers?

No. A credit freeze blocks new credit accounts, but it does not remove broker profiles. You need opt-outs for that.

Sources

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