How to remove yourself from SmartBackgroundChecks

SmartBackgroundChecks is a free people-search site with a name that sounds more official than it is. A search shows the familiar mix of age, past addresses, phone numbers and relatives. The site states that it is not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so it is not an employment or tenant screening service; those are regulated companies with their own dispute rights.

If you are worried about what a real background check would show an employer or landlord, that is a different process: you have the right to a copy of a screening report used against you and to dispute errors, as the CFPB explains.

As of October 2026, the site’s opt-out page lists these steps:

1. Open smartbackgroundchecks.com/remove.
2. Enter your email address and name and complete the captcha.
3. Click the link the site emails you. If you wait more than 24 hours to click it, you will need to request a new one.
4. Enter your information on the form. It should match the record you want removed.
5. You get a confirmation page and email. The site says to allow 3 days for your record to be fully removed.

The page notes that the right to opt out depends on your state of residence and applicable law, and describes submitted requests as going in for review. In practice, submit it wherever you live.

Search again after three or four days. If a second record (an older city, a middle initial) is still there, submit another request for it.

The steps on this page are worded almost exactly like those on FastPeopleSearch, SearchPeopleFree and USPhonebook. AdvancedBackgroundChecks, despite the similar name, has its own form with a longer stated timeline. Each is a separate request, all are listed in our data broker opt-out list.

Use Google’s Results about you to clear search results that still show your phone or address, and, in California, the free DROP request.

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