You opt out on each site’s own page. Your report links straight to it, lists the steps for that site, and puts the sites in the order to do them. On the yearly plan, Oko sends most of these requests for you, and the steps below are for the few sites that need you.
Before you start
- Open your report and go to What to do. The fixes are ranked: start at the top. The first ones are the listings that make it easiest for a stranger to find where you live or how to reach you.
- Use an email address you don’t mind the site seeing. Many sites send a confirmation link. A separate address just for opt-outs keeps your main inbox out of their records.
- Keep the report open in another tab. You will want the exact listing it found, because some sites ask you to pick or paste the page that is about you.
Opting out, step by step
- Open the opt-out link in the fix. It goes to the site’s own page, not to Oko.
- Find your listing. Most sites ask you to search for your name and state, then choose your profile. Match it against the listing in your report: same city, same age, same relatives.
- Fill in the form with only what the site asks for. You don’t need to give a site more about you than it already shows.
- Confirm. Many sites send an email with a link you must click, and some ask you to solve a check to prove you’re a person. The request isn’t sent until you finish this step.
- Mark the fix done in your report, so you can see what is left.
If a site lists you more than once, each listing may need its own request. Your report shows every listing it found on that site.
What to expect afterwards
Sites usually take from a few days to a few weeks to take a listing down. Some confirm by email; most don’t. The best way to know it worked is a recheck, which shows which listings are gone.
People-search sites often list you again later, from new data. That is why rechecks exist. If a listing doesn’t go, or comes back, see When an opt-out doesn’t stick.
Search results and accounts
Some fixes in your report aren’t people-search sites:
- Search results. Google’s “Results about you” tool lets you ask it to stop showing pages with your phone number, home address or email. Your report links to it when it finds such a page.
- Accounts. For an old account that points back to you, the fix is to change what the profile shows or close it. Your report says which.
See the glossary for what we mean by an opt-out.