Who Are the Biggest Data Brokers? A 2026 Guide

Data brokers are companies that collect personal information, package it and sell or publish it. The industry is large, fragmented and mostly invisible to the people it describes. When you ask who the biggest players are, the answer depends on what “biggest” means: the most records, the most revenue, the most visibility to consumers or the most risk to your safety. This guide sorts the major brokers by type, explains what each category holds and tells you how to prioritize opt-outs. Names and ownership change, so treat it as a map of the landscape, and check the current status of any company before you act.

1. Four kinds of data broker

Type	What they sell	Who buys	Can strangers see your profile?
Credit and consumer reporting	Credit files, identity data, marketing segments	Lenders, insurers, employers, marketers	No; regulated access
Marketing and advertising data	Audience segments, identity graphs	Advertisers, retailers	No
Risk and records analytics	Public records, identity verification, investigative tools	Businesses, government, investigators	Not generally
People-search sites	Name, age, address, phone, relatives	Anyone	Yes, often free

The last group poses the most direct danger to individuals, because anyone can search it. The others affect you through pricing, marketing and decisions you rarely see. For an overview of how the industry works, read everything you need to know about data brokers.

2. Credit and consumer reporting agencies

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are the three major credit bureaus. They collect credit histories and sell reports under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. They also run marketing and identity businesses that sell segments and verification services. You have rights to your reports and to place a freeze. See what is a credit freeze and is there a way to stop reporting agencies from selling and sharing my data.

3. Marketing and advertising data firms

These companies build profiles and audience segments, often at the household level.

Acxiom is one of the best known, with consumer data used in marketing.
LiveRamp operates identity resolution, linking data across platforms.
Epsilon provides marketing data and services.
Oracle operated a large advertising data business that it has been winding down.
Large retailers and platforms also hold and share data, though they are not classic brokers.

These firms do not usually publish consumer-facing profiles, but they may offer opt-out or access processes. Marketing profiles influence the ads you see and the offers you get. See private data is big business and how much money data brokers are making from our information.

4. Risk, records and verification firms

LexisNexis Risk Solutions and similar firms aggregate public records, identity data and fraud signals for businesses, insurers and government clients. Thomson Reuters offers investigative tools used by professionals. Property data firms, such as the company formerly known as CoreLogic, now operating under a new name, collect real estate and mortgage records. These products often fall under sector regulations and have specific access and dispute rights. Their data frequently flows into people-search sites.

5. People-search sites

This is the group with the most direct exposure. Examples include:

Site or group	Notes
Spokeo	Large profile database; official opt-out
Whitepages	Directory with long history
BeenVerified	Background reports
PeopleConnect brands (Instant Checkmate, Intelius, TruthFinder, US Search)	One suppression page covers many brands
TruePeopleSearch and FastPeopleSearch	Free, high-ranking search sites
Radaris	Taken over by court order in 2026; see its notice page
MyLife	Reputation-scored profiles
ThatsThem	Official opt-out
PeopleFinders, Nuwber, CheckPeople and others	Smaller but indexed

Follow how to opt out of the most popular people-search sites for the order and links.

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. How to find the brokers that matter for you

Search yourself. The people-search sites that appear in results for your name are your priority.
Check state broker registries. Several states, including California and Vermont, require brokers to register and publish lists. California’s registry is part of its privacy program; see privacy.ca.gov/drop.
Use California’s DROP if you live there. It opened to residents on January 1, 2026, and registered brokers must start processing requests from August 1, 2026.
Run a broker scan to see which sites list you.
Ask companies you do business with whether they sell or share your data, and opt out where possible.

7. Why “biggest” is the wrong question for your safety

The largest brokers by revenue are not necessarily the most dangerous to you. A mid-sized people-search site that publishes your current address free is a greater safety risk than a giant marketing firm whose profile of you nobody outside the industry sees. A good rule is to rank brokers by visibility and sensitivity: who can see my profile, and what does it show? See the data brokers selling your personal information.

8. Government and the broker market

Government agencies buy from brokers in some cases, and legal debates continue over whether this bypasses warrant requirements. See does our government buy our private data from data brokers. That context is one reason privacy laws are evolving and why it is hard to stop data brokers from selling and using our data.

9. What you can and cannot do about each category

Category	What you can do
Credit bureaus	Freeze credit, check reports, opt out of prescreened offers
Marketing brokers	Use opt-out portals, state-law requests and ad settings
Risk and records firms	Request access or correction where rights exist
People-search sites	Opt out of each; use DROP if you live in California

For prescreened offers, see our guide to opting out of pre-approved credit offers.

10. How to read a broker’s opt-out page

Opt-out pages differ, but they share patterns. Look for the page titled privacy, do not sell, or your choices, usually linked in the footer. Expect to search for your record first, select it, and then confirm by email or phone. Some brokers require a copy of identification, which you should avoid sending unless the page explains how it is protected and deleted. Save every confirmation, because it is your proof of the request date if a record reappears.

11. Why the list keeps changing

Brokers merge, rebrand and get acquired. A suppressed record at one company can reappear when another company buys its database or licenses data from a source you have not contacted. That is why the same names appear under different brands, and why one opt-out rarely finishes the job. California’s Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, described at privacy.ca.gov/drop, is designed to send one request to registered brokers at once, and brokers must begin processing those requests on a recurring cycle.

12. Do all of them honor opt-outs?

Not equally. Companies subject to state privacy laws have legal duties to respond, while others respond only as a matter of policy. Where a broker ignores you, you can complain to your state attorney general or to the FTC. Keep a dated log of each attempt, since regulators respond better to documented patterns than to general complaints.

13. Using this list well

Treat the names above as a starting map, not a finished checklist. Start with the people-search sites that publish your address, because those create the most direct risk, then work through marketing and risk-data companies. Re-check quarterly.

14. Three scenarios and what to do

Scenario 1: You want to know where to begin. Search your name, identify the people-search sites that list you and opt out of the top few.

Scenario 2: You are concerned about marketing profiles. Review ad settings, use opt-out portals where offered, send privacy requests to companies you buy from and reduce new data sharing.

Scenario 3: You live in California. Submit a DROP request, then handle the biggest people-search sites directly.

15. What to expect: a realistic timeline

Step	Typical time
Identifying your listings	1 to 2 hours
People-search opt-outs	Days to four weeks per site
Marketing opt-outs	Weeks
Credit freeze	30 minutes
Re-checks	Monthly, then quarterly

16. Common mistakes

Focusing on the biggest names and ignoring visible sites.
Assuming one opt-out covers a parent company’s other brands.
Ignoring credit bureau tools.
Believing the list is complete or static.
Skipping re-checks.
Paying for free opt-outs.

17. How Wiperts fits

The landscape is large and changes constantly, which is why tracking it manually is hard. Wiperts scans more than 100 data brokers and people-search sites for your name, addresses and phone numbers, submits removal requests, removes your personal results from Google and Bing, blurs your home on maps and monitors around the clock.

See which brokers list 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.

18. Key takeaways

Data brokers include credit bureaus, marketing firms, risk analytics companies and people-search sites.
The people-search group is the most visible and the first to address.
Use registries, state tools such as DROP and scans to find the brokers that matter to you.
Rank by visibility and sensitivity, not size.

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

19. Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the biggest data brokers?

They include the credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and TransUnion; marketing data companies such as Acxiom, LiveRamp and Epsilon; risk and records firms such as LexisNexis Risk Solutions; and consumer-facing people-search sites such as Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified and the PeopleConnect brands.

How many data brokers are there?

Hundreds operate in the United States. State registries list those that register, and many smaller brokers sell niche lists. The consumer-facing people-search group is smaller and accounts for most of the visible profiles.

Which data brokers should I opt out of first?

Start with people-search sites that show your address and phone number publicly, because they create the most direct risk. Marketing and risk brokers matter too, but their data is not usually searchable by strangers.

Are credit bureaus data brokers?

They are a special category. They collect and sell credit data under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and also operate marketing data businesses. You have specific rights to credit reports and freezes.

Can I find out which brokers have my data?

You can search people-search sites yourself, check state broker registries and run a broker scan. Marketing brokers rarely show profiles publicly, but some offer access or opt-out processes.

Do all data brokers honor opt-outs?

Many do, especially consumer-facing sites. Others offer limited controls or require state-law requests. Persistence and documentation help.

Sources

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