How To Opt Out of Spyfly – And Why You Should Do It
SpyFly is a people-search service that sells the personal information of US citizens. Subscribers can search for people using a name, address, or phone number. The results are displayed in the form of an aggregated report detailing everything from the searched-for person’s marital status to the names of their neighbors.
If you don’t like the idea of this information being so easily available, read on and we’ll tell you how to opt out of Spyfly.
Why you should remove your data from Spyfly
Although Spyfly is primarily a subscription-only service, it initially provides some data for free. For example, if somebody searches for a name, they are given results that include an age, address, and relatives.
Subscribers, meanwhile, can click “Get Report” and access a wealth of personal information, including one or more phone numbers; address history; property value; names of relatives and neighbors; any judgements, liens, felonies, and misdemeanors; and voter registration details.
The free information can be obtained by anyone based in the US, or connected to a server in the US via a VPN. Obtaining a full report requires a valid email address and US-based payment details.
In either case, Spyfly says that “the person you are looking for will never know you ran a report on them.” Why does this matter? For one thing, it means that spammers, scammers, and identity thieves have a ready source of information. The $2 seven-day trial allows users to view as many background reports as they wish.
Spyfly’s terms of use forbid using its hoarded information for stalking or harassment, but there’s little they can do to prevent it. Cindy Southworth, from the National Network to End Domestic Violence, says that “abusers and stalkers use online databases and people search websites to track down and locate victims.”
Spyfly users must also agree to refrain from making decisions about a searched-for person’s suitability for housing, employment or credit using Spyfly data. Again, this is almost impossible to prevent, despite being prohibited by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
How to remove your information from Spyfly
Removing your public records from the Spyfly website is mercifully easy. Just do the following:
- Go to: https://www.spyfly.com/help-center/remove-me-from-website
- Click “Get Started”.
- Enter your first name, last name, age and state. Then solve the Captcha and press “Continue”.
- When your record appears, press “Remove”.
- Enter your email address, check the two boxes, and press “Continue”.
- Open your email account and locate the email with a Spyfly verification link.
- Click the verification link to action the removal request.
Spyfly says that the majority of deletion requests are actioned within 24 hours. However, it encourages users to verify that their information has been removed. “If for some reason it has not,” says the company’s website, “please call our support team at 1-800-831-9235.”
Unfortunately, the battle does not stop here. Even when your data has been removed, there’s a chance it will make its way back onto the site – particularly if there are changes to your personal details, such as a new address.
To ensure this doesn’t happen, occasionally check the Spyfly site and make further removal requests.
How to opt out of other people-finder sites
Spyfly is far from the only people-search site available. You can use the guides below to make a start at removing your data from some of the others.
If you’re stretched for time or don’t have the patience to manually remove your personal information yourself, there are services available that will do it for you.
The best service to opt out of people-finder sites
Let’s explore the best data removal service in more detail.
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How to opt out of Spyfly – FAQs
[[post-object type=”accordion” question=”How much does Spyfly cost?” answer=”Users can try the service using the seven-day trial for $2. However, to do this they need to provide payment details. If they don’t cancel the service before the end of the free trial period, they’ll be charged $29.97 for the first month of a subscription. Tempted? Before signing up, note that Spyfly says that ‘the information available on our website may not be complete, accurate, or current.'” /]]
[[post-object type=”accordion” question=”Where does Spyfly get my information from?” answer=”Spyfly gets your data from US-based national, state, and local public records. It claims to have ‘detailed information on over 350 million people,’ together with ‘more than 160 million property records’ and ‘access to 500 million phone numbers.'” /]]
[[post-object type=”accordion” question=”What other people-search sites are there?” answer=”
There’s a bewildering amount of data brokers that make personal information publicly available. Aside from those already mentioned in this article, they include:
- FastPeopleSearch
- Innovis
- Truthfinder
- Spokeo
- Instant Checkmate
- USSearch
- PeopleFinders
- Pipl
- ZabaSearch
- eVerify
- AddressSearch
- That’s Them
- Peek You
- TinEye
- Yasni
- Jigsaw
- Alumni.net
- Classmates
- ZoomInfo
- AnyWho
- Infobel
” /]]
