Data Broker Statistics 2026
Original data from PrivacyOn's scan engine — refreshed daily, last updated 2026-10-14 — plus the key regulatory numbers of 2026. Free to cite with a link to this page. For how brokers actually respond to deletion requests, see the Data Broker Response Report.
57%
of people we scan appear on at least one people-search site
9
people-search sites listing the median exposed person
187
separate listings found for a single person (record so far)
~600
data brokers registered with the State of California
300,000+
Californians enrolled in the state’s DROP deletion platform
$200/day
penalty per ignored DROP deletion request, per request
What our scans actually find
PrivacyOn runs automated scans of people-search sites for US consumers. As of 2026-10-14, across 40 scanned identities: 57% appear on at least one site, the median exposed person appears on 9 sites (max observed: 18), holding a median of 24 separate listings — one person had 187. In total we've indexed 1,000 individual listings.
These figures are a floor, not a ceiling: they come from scanning just 24 sites — California alone has ~600 registered brokers. Where the exposed people show up:
| People-search site | Share of exposed people listed there | Opt-out guide |
|---|---|---|
| SearchPeopleFree | 83% | How to opt out |
| cyberbackgroundchecks | 74% | — |
| thatsthem | 70% | — |
| ZabaSearch | 70% | How to opt out |
| intelius | 65% | — |
| smartbackgroundchecks | 65% | — |
| unmask | 61% | — |
| FastPeopleSearch | 52% | How to opt out |
| fastbackgroundcheck | 48% | — |
| AnyWho | 48% | How to opt out |
| Spokeo | 43% | How to opt out |
| addresses | 22% | — |
| beenverified | 22% | — |
| USPhoneBook | 17% | How to opt out |
| TruePeopleSearch | 13% | How to opt out |
| truthfinder | 13% | — |
| 411.com | 13% | — |
| instantcheckmate | 9% | — |
| nationalpublicdata | 9% | — |
| PeopleFinders | 9% | How to opt out |
| ussearch | 9% | — |
| Radaris | 4% | How to opt out |
| nuwber | 4% | — |
| cocofinder | 4% | — |
The regulatory numbers of 2026
- ~600 data brokers are registered with California's data broker registry as of mid-2026 — the most complete public census of the industry, and still only the companies that self-register.
- California's DROP platform (Delete Act, SB 362) opened to consumers on January 1, 2026; 300,000+ Californians enrolled in its first months.
- Since August 1, 2026, registered brokers must process DROP deletion requests or face penalties of $200 per request, per day.
- Registration itself costs a broker $6,000/year in 2026 — a fee small enough that ~600 firms pay it to keep selling personal data.
Methodology & citing this page
Original figures come from PrivacyOn's scan engine: automated searches of 24 major people-search sites for US consumers who requested a scan, matched on name and location, deduplicated per site. Sample size and coverage grow continuously; this page recomputes from the live database daily. External figures link to their primary sources above.
All statistics on this page are free to cite under CC BY 4.0 — attribute "PrivacyOn" with a link to privacyon.com/data-broker-statistics. Questions about the data: support@privacyon.com.