How to Opt Out of Lotame

Lotame is one of the largest advertising data brokers in the world, building detailed behavioral profiles of consumers by tracking online activity across websites, apps, and connected devices. If you value your privacy, here's how to opt out and request deletion of your data from Lotame's systems.

What Is Lotame?

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, Lotame operates as a data management platform (DMP) and data marketplace. Unlike people-search sites that display your personal details publicly, Lotame works behind the scenes, collecting and selling behavioral data to advertisers, publishers, and marketing agencies.

Lotame is registered as a data broker with the California Attorney General's office and operates globally, processing data from users across North America, Europe, Asia, and other regions. The company builds what it calls "behavioral profiles" by collecting data about your browsing habits, app usage, purchase behavior, and content consumption.

What Data Does Lotame Collect?

Lotame aggregates a wide range of behavioral and demographic data, including:

• Browsing history across partner websites
• App usage patterns on mobile devices
• Content interests and topic affinities
• Purchase intent signals
• Device identifiers (advertising IDs, cookie IDs)
• Location data (general geographic area)
• Demographic inferences (age range, gender, income bracket)
• Cross-device connections linking your phone, tablet, and computer activity

This data is packaged into audience segments that advertisers purchase to target you with personalized ads. For example, Lotame might categorize you as a "luxury car intender" or "health-conscious parent" based on your browsing patterns.

How to Opt Out of Lotame: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Visit the Lotame Privacy Manager

Go to lotame.com and scroll to the bottom of the page. Click on "Your Privacy Choices" in the footer. This will redirect you to Lotame's Privacy Manager page where you can submit your opt-out request.

Step 2: Submit a Privacy Rights Request

On the Privacy Manager page, click the Privacy Rights Request Form link. Select the type of request you want to make — choose "Delete My Data" to request full deletion of your behavioral profile.

Step 3: Provide Your Information

Enter the email address or phone number that Lotame may have received through partner activity. Complete the CAPTCHA verification to prove you're not a bot.

Step 4: Wait for Processing

Lotame will confirm your request within 10 business days and make a good faith attempt to fulfill it within 30 days. Under GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy laws, they are required to honor deletion requests within these timeframes.

Step 5: Understand What Gets Deleted

When you request deletion, Lotame deletes your behavioral profile — all the interests, browsing data, and audience segments associated with your device IDs and email addresses. However, Lotame retains your IDs (email, mobile advertising ID) in a permanent opt-out list to prevent its partners from rebuilding a profile on those identifiers in the future.

Important Caveats About Lotame Opt-Outs

Data Can Be Re-Created

Lotame's partners and upstream data sources may share or resell data through other collaboration channels. This means similar entries could be recreated even after you've opted out. This doesn't mean your request failed — it means new data flowed in from a different source. Check back every few months to ensure your profile hasn't been rebuilt.

Cookie-Based Opt-Outs Are Fragile

If you opt out via browser cookies, clearing your cookies or switching browsers will remove the opt-out signal. For a more durable opt-out, submit a formal deletion request through Lotame's privacy form using your email address.

Protecting Yourself From Ad Data Brokers

Lotame is just one of many advertising data brokers that profile consumers. Others include Oracle Data Cloud, LiveRamp, Epsilon, and Acxiom. To comprehensively protect your privacy from ad tracking, consider these steps:

• Use a privacy-focused browser like Firefox or Brave with strict tracking protection enabled
• Install a tracker blocker like uBlock Origin or Privacy Badger
• Reset your mobile advertising ID regularly or disable personalized ads entirely
• Use a VPN to prevent location-based tracking
• Opt out of targeted advertising through industry opt-out tools like the Digital Advertising Alliance's opt-out page

For comprehensive protection, PrivacyOn monitors over 100 data broker sites — including advertising data brokers like Lotame — and continuously submits removal requests on your behalf. With automated monitoring and re-submission, PrivacyOn ensures your data stays removed even when brokers attempt to re-acquire it from upstream sources.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lotame the same as a people-search site?

No. People-search sites like Spokeo or Whitepages display your personal details publicly. Lotame operates behind the scenes, selling behavioral data to advertisers rather than making it publicly searchable. Both types of companies threaten your privacy, but in different ways.

How do I know if Lotame has data on me?

If you've browsed the internet, used apps, or interacted with any of Lotame's thousands of partner sites, they likely have some data on you. You can submit a Data Access Request through their Privacy Manager to find out exactly what they have.

Will opting out of Lotame stop all targeted ads?

Opting out of Lotame will stop ads targeted using Lotame's data specifically. However, many other ad tech companies also track and profile consumers. To significantly reduce targeted advertising, you'll need to opt out from multiple data brokers and use browser-level tracking protection.