If you only care about removing one listing, use the Advanced Background Checks opt out form; if you want wider cleanup across many data brokers, Incogni is the stronger choice. Advanced Background Checks can expose names, phone numbers, addresses, relatives, and possible age data in seconds. Removing yourself manually is free, but it is narrow. Incogni costs money, yet it handles repeat requests across a much bigger set of people-search and marketing databases.
TLDR: Advanced Background Checks opt out is best for a quick, single-site removal. Incogni is better if your information appears on dozens of similar sites and keeps coming back. For example, if one search shows your home address on Advanced Background Checks, the manual opt out may take about 10–20 minutes; if you find yourself on 30 broker sites, a service like Incogni can save hours of repetitive forms. Expect manual removal to be free but annoying, while Incogni trades a subscription fee for scale and follow-up.
Advanced Background Checks: what it shows and why people remove it
All Heading
Advanced Background Checks is a people-search site. It collects and displays public and semi-public records in searchable profiles. A typical profile may include:
- Full name and aliases
- Current and past addresses
- Phone numbers and possible emails
- Relatives or household members
- Age range or date-related identity clues
That can be useful for someone trying to reconnect with an old friend. It can also be risky. Stalkers, scammers, aggressive marketers, and identity thieves do not need much data to start causing trouble. A home address paired with a phone number can be enough for unwanted contact. Add relatives, and the problem spreads.
Honestly, it feels like the worst part is not one site having the data. It is that the same data appears again and again across dozens of sites with different forms, menus, and waiting periods.
How the Advanced Background Checks opt out process works
The manual opt out process is usually straightforward, but not exactly pleasant. You search for your listing, confirm the record, submit a removal request, and verify the request by email. In many cases, the biggest time sink is checking that you removed the right profile, especially if you have a common name.
A practical manual removal process looks like this:
- Go to the Advanced Background Checks opt out page.
- Search for your name and state.
- Open the result that matches your identity.
- Submit the removal request for that record.
- Check your email and confirm the request if required.
- Recheck the site later to confirm the listing is gone.
The site may remove the listing within a few days, though timing can vary. If the profile remains visible after a week or two, repeat the request or contact support. Keep screenshots and dates. Boring, yes. Useful, also yes.
Where manual opt out falls short
The manual route has one clear advantage: it costs nothing. If Advanced Background Checks is the only site worrying you, that may be enough.
The catch is that people-search sites often pull from overlapping sources. Removing your profile from one database does not erase the raw data from court records, property records, marketing lists, old voter files, or other broker feeds. Your listing can return after a data refresh. That can mean checking again every few months.
Manual opt out also gets tiring fast. Each broker has its own rules. Some ask for email confirmation. Some bury the removal link. Some require identity verification. Some reject requests for tiny mismatches. Expect to waste time on repetitive steps that feel designed to make you quit.
What Incogni does differently
Incogni is a paid privacy service from Surfshark. Instead of asking you to remove yourself from one site at a time, it sends removal requests to many data brokers on your behalf. These include people-search sites, marketing databases, recruitment data providers, risk data companies, and other brokers depending on your region and plan.
Incogni asks for basic personal details so it can match records and submit legal deletion requests. It then tracks broker responses through a dashboard. That means you can see requests that are sent, accepted, rejected, or still pending.
The main benefit is scale. One Advanced Background Checks opt out protects you from one site. Incogni tries to reduce exposure across a broader broker network. It also sends follow-up requests, which matters because some brokers are slow or stubborn.
Advanced Background Checks vs Incogni: side by side
| Feature | Advanced Background Checks Opt Out | Incogni |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Paid subscription |
| Coverage | One site | Many data brokers |
| Time required | About 10–20 minutes per request | Setup once, then automated requests |
| Follow-up | You handle it | Incogni tracks and follows up |
| Best for | Single listing removal | Ongoing broker cleanup |
If your concern is urgent and specific, start with the Advanced Background Checks opt out. For example, if your address appears after a harassment issue, remove that listing first. Do not wait for a subscription tool to work through a queue.
If your concern is broad privacy, Incogni makes more sense. People who move, work in public-facing jobs, have unusual names, or have been targeted by doxxing often need wider cleanup. The same applies to real estate agents, therapists, teachers, journalists, executives, and anyone whose home address should not be easy to find.
Which option removes data faster?
For a single Advanced Background Checks listing, manual opt out can be faster. You are going straight to the source. There is no middle step. If the form works, the process can be done quickly.
For total exposure reduction, Incogni may be faster over time. Not because every broker responds instantly, but because it can contact many brokers while you do something else. Manually submitting 40 requests could take several evenings. Incogni turns that into one setup flow plus monitoring.
Still, do not expect magic. Data broker removal is not instant. Some companies respond within days. Others take weeks. A few may require extra checks. Privacy cleanup is closer to home maintenance than a one-time switch.
Privacy trade-offs to consider
Manual opt out requires less sharing. You give Advanced Background Checks enough information to identify and remove your record. That may appeal to people who dislike handing data to another service.
Incogni requires more trust. It needs your personal details to request removals. That sounds ironic, but it is hard to remove data without identifying which records belong to you. Before signing up, read its privacy policy, billing terms, and supported regions.
Also consider cost. If you have only one listing to remove, paying for a subscription may feel excessive. If you are listed on many sites, the fee may be worth it just to avoid repetitive admin work.
Best strategy for most people
The smartest approach is often a mix. First, remove your profile from Advanced Background Checks manually if it is visible. That deals with the immediate exposure. Next, search your name, city, phone number, and address in a private browser window. If several broker profiles appear, consider Incogni or a similar removal service.
Use this simple rule:
- Choose manual opt out if you found one or two listings and have time to check them yourself.
- Choose Incogni if your data appears across many sites or keeps returning.
- Use both if you need fast removal from Advanced Background Checks and broader privacy cleanup after that.
Advanced Background Checks opt out is the free first step. Incogni is the broader cleanup tool. One fixes a visible problem on a single site; the other helps reduce the number of places where that problem can appear again.
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