We opted out of 50 data brokers by hand. Here's what it took.

To understand what we're automating, our team manually opted out of the 50 most common people-search sites and data brokers. We tracked every minute and every dark pattern along the way.

The averages: 37 minutes per broker, spread across finding the opt-out page (often buried three levels deep or only referenced in the privacy policy), completing identity verification, and following up when nothing happened. Three brokers still asked for requests by mail or fax. Several required uploading a photo ID to remove a listing that contained less information than the ID itself.

The most frustrating discovery came later: when we re-checked after 90 days, 24 of the 50 profiles had reappeared. Brokers continuously re-ingest public records, so a one-time removal quietly expires. Unless you repeat the entire process several times a year, you're never actually removed.

This is fundamentally an automation problem. Sending a legally-grounded deletion request isn't hard — sending 150 of them, tracking responses, escalating non-compliance, and repeating the cycle every 60–90 days is. That's the entire reason Brainstormen exists.