OKCaller.com is a highly invasive service that sells access to personal data. Anyone can use it to run background checks, which raises significant privacy concerns for the millions of people in its registry. Chances are, that includes you.
OKCaller automatically harvests a wealth of personal information. If you search for your own entry, you will find your name, addresses, phone number, and many other sensitive details. OKCaller claims to have over 800 million people in its database, so it is extremely extensive.
Your personal data can be purchased by anybody without scrutiny of their motivations. This unlocks a Pandora’s box of risks such as phishing, fraud, identity theft, and even stalking.
You have the right to demand the removal of your personal info from people finder sites. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll help you understand why data brokers like OKCaller are more dangerous than they first seem. We will explain how you can opt out of OKCaller, and we will recommend some services that can help clean up your digital footprint across hundreds of different data brokers.
The best data removal service: Incogni
If you are looking for an efficient but affordable service that will remove your data from OKCaller.com and over 180 other popular data broker websites, we strongly recommend Incogni.
The service was developed by the popular VPN provider, Surfshark. This is a company with a proven track record of providing robust data privacy for its users. It has strong privacy policies and can be trusted wholeheartedly to put data security first.
Incogni maintains a commitment to user privacy throughout and minimizes your exposure to additional risks (such as hacking and data leaks) by requiring only a minimal amount of data upfront.
Incogni’s automated system does not attempt to figure out which data brokers have your data. Instead, it assumes that every important people-finder website has your records, and asks for you to be removed from all of them. Incogni is highly persistent and will continue to send removal requests until the service has complied.
A subscription to Incogni comes with a useful dashboard where you can keep track of your removal requests. Here you can monitor exactly what is going on, and how many sites your data has been removed from. If you have any questions, you can contact Incogni via email or the ticker submission form on its website.
A subscription to Incogni starts at just US$6.49, which makes it extremely affordable when compared to its competitors. That said, it doesn’t have any multi-user plans, so you will have to pay the basic rate for each person in your household. If shelling out US$77.88 in one go isn’t appealing, you can opt to get a monthly account for $12.99.
Incogni extends its subscription plans to users across the US, Canada, the UK, and the majority of Europe. This sets it apart from numerous competitors who limit their services exclusively to US-based consumers.
How to remove your data from OKCaller with Incogni
Incogni simplifies the process of removing your data from OKCaller and a long list of over 180 data brokers. In our experience, this makes it exceptionally hassle-free. For those who may be new to the concept of data removal services, we’ve provided a step-by-step guide that explains the process:
- Register your account: Start by creating your Incogni account. You have the option to choose a monthly subscription priced at US$12.99 or save 50% with an annual subscription instead.
- Provide the necessary permissions: Incogni only requires a few personal details to get started.
- Track your progress: Monitor the progress of takedown requests on Incogni’s dashboard. After a month, you should see that most data brokers contacted removed your information. Incogni will continue to target any companies that have failed to comply, and will regularly check back with all 180 providers to ensure your data doesn’t re-appear.
Incogni will automatically take care of all your data removal requests, requiring no further action on your part. Incogni will continue to add more data brokers to its database to ensure your data stays off people search sites.
If anything confuses you, or you need assistance with data removal from a specific service, feel free to reach out to Incogni through email or the contact form available on its website.
The service also offers a wealth of valuable resources on its website, including guidance on self-removal from data brokers, FAQs, and more. This makes it an excellent educational resource – well worth checking out even if you don’t want to pay for a subscription.
How to remove your data from OKCaller manually
You can contact OKCaller yourself to ask for your data to be removed. Just follow the steps below:
How to remove your data manually from OKCaller:
- Head over to the OKCaller website by using this URL: https://www.okcaller.com/
- Scroll down to the Phone Number Query search bar
- Search for your phone number
- Open your personal listing and scroll down until you find a box titled Edit your listing
- You will need to confirm you are the owner of the phone number by receiving an SMS code. Alternatively, you can request for OKCaller to call you.
- Having authenticated your number you are free to change your entry to Unlisted. This will conceal your name, phone number, address, and any other personal info in your profile.
This will remove your data from OKCaller’s public database for the time being.
Please remember that manually removing your data from OKCaller (or any individual data broker) doesn’t expunge it from the numerous other websites where it might be present. To remove your info from multiple services, you will need to either contact each one individually or sign up for a data removal service like Incogni.
How do companies like OKCaller harvest my personal data?
Whenever you surf the web, use a search engine, sign up for new services, make purchases, install new apps, fill out personal information forms, obtain licenses, and engage in a multitude of other day-to-day obligations, your data gradually accumulates within publicly accessible databases.
Companies like OKCaller make it their business to collect this treasure trove of personal information. Data aggregation services, including OKCaller, often reinforce profiles using automated web scraping. This means the info you post on social media, business websites, and any other online services can make its way into the hands of data brokers. This can include your photos.
People finder sites also establish partnerships with numerous applications and online services. As a result of many apps’ poor policies that many apps have, your data is collected and sold to data brokers.
How can I remove my personal data from all data brokers permanently?
At the moment there is no centralized method to permanently remove your information from all data brokers. Instead, you must contact each data broker individually and ask for your data to be removed.
According to data removal services like Incogni, it would take around 300 hours of work each year to remove yourself from all the leading people finder sites.
Understandably, this is prohibitively long-winded for most people and makes it almost impossible for people to adequately protect their own privacy. As it stands, the best way to remove your data from multiple data brokers is to pay for a service that manages all takedown requests on your behalf, like Incogni.
Why should I opt out of OKCaller.com?
The dangers posed by people finder sites greatly outweigh any potential benefits. You can vainly hope that some long-lost relative will show up with an inheritance you know nothing about, but the chances are pretty slim.
In reality, these sites are a large cause for concern and are more likely to result in you getting served papers, finding out about a long-forgotten bill, or some other annoying obligation you knew nothing about. Worse yet, criminals and fraudsters could use your data to engage in targeted phishing, smishing, identity theft, and fraud.
People finder sites enable stalking, which is more of a risk nowadays than ever before. They make life more difficult for people attempting to escape abusive relationships or other unfortunate circumstances.
To prevent these negative repercussions, we recommend that you do everything in your power to protect your personal information. Start by removing your data from data brokers, and read some more tips further down.
Here is some of the information you can expect to find on data broker sites:
- First and last names, along with any previous aliases.
- Current and former addresses.
- Email addresses.
- Phone numbers.
- Photographs.
- Age, date of birth, and potentially a copy of your birth certificate.
- Profiles from social media and dating platforms, including your usernames.
- Educational and employment history.
- Vehicle details.
- Licenses for hunting, weapons, or concealed carry permits.
- Professional licenses.
- Records related to marriages and divorces.
- Information about bankruptcy, including related records.
- Criminal records, including details about speeding tickets, etc.
- Voter registration information.
- Information about your neighbors, relatives, and cohabitants.
- Purchase history.
- Amazon wishlist data.
- Details related to evictions and foreclosures.
- Bankruptcies, liens, and other legal judgments.
- Information about assets and properties.
See also:
OKCaller opt out FAQs
Can OKCaller re-add my information after I’ve opted out?
Yes. Data brokers and people finder websites collect data from thousands of public sources. A broker can claim to have reacquired your data after you ask it to be removed from the database.
Some data brokers don’t delete user data when requested. Instead, they remove your data from view, suppress it data for a short time, and then re-add you to their database, usually after just a few months.
Data brokers do everything in their power to retain your data and begin profiting again. Anybody serious about keeping a clean digital footprint must regularly ask data brokers to remove their data. Asking once only temporarily solves the problem.
Are people search sites legal?
Yes. As long as data brokers and people finder websites only harvest publicly available information, they are doing nothing illegal. They are free to compile your data as long as they do not attempt to acquire any private data without your permission.
It seems clear that data brokers help to facilitate a wide range of harmful activities, including phishing and stalking. Despite being legal, data brokers pose significant potential risks to data subjects. Despite these concerns, existing laws allow these practices, and data brokers are not in violation when they collect and trade your data.
Why does my OKCaller profile include incorrect information?
Data brokers leverage automated systems to gather data from numerous public sources. These automated processes involve web scraping, scanning public databases, and searching through various registries to amass information.
Data brokers prioritize quantity over accuracy. They put little effort into verifying the correctness of data assets, and they spend little to no time or money conducting accuracy checks.
Due to the automated data acquisition methods, your data profile may potentially contain information belonging to someone with the same name as you. Your profile may also contain erroneous data if you have ever provided false details or made a mistake when filling out a form.
False information can actually be a blessing. The more inaccuracies that appear in data brokers lists, the harder it is for data purchasers to get accurate info.
OKCaller offers users the option to correct and update their profiles. While this can help ensure data accuracy, we recommend against it for the privacy reasons mentioned above. Removing your data entirely is the most effective way to prevent it from being accessed by potential scammers, hackers, or fraudsters.
How can I improve my digital footprint?
Removing your data from data brokers is a great way to improve your digital privacy. However, it should only be part of a larger infosec routine, if you want to protect yourself. Below, we have included a list of tips that you can follow to massively improve your digital privacy.
- Don’t add personal data to social media accounts: Check your social media profiles and remove any personally identifiable information, such as your date of birth, address, and phone numbers.
- Use pseudonyms or false information: Whenever possible, use pseudonyms or provide false information for non-essential accounts, apps, and services.
- Delete unused accounts: Keep a close check on your online presence and delete any unused accounts.
- Avoid sharing data: Always refrain from sharing personally identifiable information in public posts or forums where it can be easily accessed. Never share photos of official documents or any other details that could reveal personal information such as your location or address.
- Use disposable email addresses: When you sign up for new services, shield your real details by using disposable email addresses and temporary phone numbers. You can get these by signing up to services like Google Voice and Temp Mail.
- Use a reliable VPN: Protect your online activities and communication data by connecting to a trustworthy VPN. This prevents ISPs, local networks, and other businesses from tracking your online activities.
- Review app permissions: Be cautious about which apps you install and use. Stick to those you genuinely need and always check the permissions before granting apps access to your device.
- Install anti-tracking browser extensions: You can greatly improve your online privacy with anti-tracking browser extensions like Privacy Badger, NoScript, and uBlock Origin. These block third-party scripts and trackers to ensure you get a more private experience online.
- Use private search engines and browsers: Browsers like Chrome and search engines like Google or Bing track you online. We recommend you opt for private search engines and browsers like StartPage, DuckDuckGo, Brave, and MoreLogin to minimize data collection by companies like Microsoft and Google.
