Go delete yourself from the Internet. Seriously, here’s how.

Google updated its “Results About You” tool, and using it has been an eye-opening experience.

It uncovered my home address, phone number and email on so-called people-search websites, along with my birth date and grandma’s name—even though I requested removal from some databases years ago. It regularly sends emails alerting me to more exposed data.

And yes, your info is out there, too. Plug your data into Google’s free tool—the company promises not to use it for any other purposes—and wait a few hours for the alerts to roll in.

Why care? Easily available personal data can expose you to junk mail, identity theft or impersonation scams. For executives, government officials and public figures, the stakes are even higher. Attackers use people-search databases to increasingly target them for harassment or violence, according to a 2024 report by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. Even private individuals have become victims of doxxing, the malicious sharing of personal info.

If you’ve ever gotten a speeding ticket, bought a home, answered a census survey or registered to vote, those details are now a part of public record. Credit card sign-ups, magazine subscriptions and warranty cards are other reliable sources of personal information.

Data brokers scrape these records, plus social-media profiles, then package the data as dossiers on millions of Americans. There are hundreds of people-search services. And while most offer an opt-out process, the data can reappear when companies refresh their databases.

That’s why you might want to enlist another service, the kind that deletes your data from the internet. While services can’t completely scrub your info from the web, they can make it harder to pin you down. Here’s how it all works.

Find: See what’s out there

The profiles data brokers create are only getting more detailed.

They now include lists of people’s friends, family members and children, as well as location and vehicle information such as license plate number and car purchase history. “In 2023, we would find about 300 pieces of someone’s personally identifiable information out there. Now there are over 600 pieces,” says Rob Shavell, chief executive of DeleteMe, a personal-information removal service.

To see what’s out there, google your name and location. You might find a profile—or two—with your personal data on people-search websites such as Spokeo or Whitepages.

You can also use Google’s free scanner: Go to myactivity.google.com and under Other activity, click “Results About You.” Here, you can review search results of where your personal information appears, and request that Google remove the result.

Google’s updated ‘Results About You’ tool surfaces search results containing your personal information. Request to remove the link from Google’s pages by clicking on the website name.

The Google tool only shows search results. To cover your bases, you also need to go to the data brokers directly. Two info removers, DeleteMe and Optery, offer free exposure reports. If you pay for a subscription, they will submit opt-out requests to the services for you.

Request: Opt out or automate

If you want to go it alone, set aside a weekend. People-search sites have different removal processes, and there are hundreds of such services.

Some might request more personal data to remove your listing. Only provide information they already have about you. If you must upload a photo ID, mask the license number and your photo. Use a burner phone number and temporary email address with Maildrop.

You can also pay for a service to do the leg work. After submitting your personal information, these services comb the web and use bots or humans to fulfill the removal requests.

Optery, which launched in 2021, has a budget-friendly $4-a-month plan covering more than 300 sites. You can pay more (up to $25 a month) for removals from more websites, along with extra human assistance. It works quickly: I saw a report of exposed info after a day. After two, my information had already been removed from more than 100 sites.

A day after signing up with Optery, you receive your first report of exposed data, with screenshots of your personal information on data brokers’ sites.

DeleteMe is the seasoned old-timer, with 14 years in the business. The service offers a yearly plan for $129. This makes sense—information can reappear after months.

It takes DeleteMe a week to comb through thousands of sites and compile a privacy report, containing the opt-out status and estimated removal time for each data broker.

After a week, I received my first report, which included the data broker with the most info on me, and a list of about 80 people-search sites with a profile on me. The estimated removal time on some sites was as quick as 24 hours, and on others, up to six weeks. The service will automatically do another scan in three months. The DeleteMe plan also offers disposable phone numbers and email addresses, so you can stay hidden.

Aura is a more complete solution, starting at $120 a year. In addition to removing you from people-search sites, it offers antivirus software and identity theft insurance. It’s a better option for a family who needs a range of coverage.

Repeat…and minimize your footprint

When you opt out of a people-search site, your data might not disappear right away. For California residents, removal must happen within 45 days. About a dozen states have similar privacy laws. If you live in other states, “all bets are off,” says Optery founder Lawrence Gentilello. Removals could take longer—or in rare cases, not happen at all.

These same companies might collect the same data again from public sources or third parties. That’s why you’re never completely erased. You should scan the web a few times a year and repeat the process. Or, again, just pay an info-removing service to keep running.

Unless you live off the grid and avoid online shopping and other aspects of modern life, it’s difficult to prevent your personal information from getting out there. But you can lie low: Turn on Do Not Track on your phone, avoid posting publicly on social media, and mask your identity by using burner email addresses and phone numbers. You might even want to use a fake birthday—but you still have to remember it.

Write to Nicole Nguyen at nicole.nguyen@wsj.com