SmartBackgroundChecks Opt Out: How to Remove Your Listing

Written by the Removal Lab team.

Searched your name and found SmartBackgroundChecks showing your address, your phone number and your relatives to anyone who looks? The SmartBackgroundChecks opt out starts at smartbackgroundchecks.com/optout, where you enter your name and email, then finish the form from a link sent to your inbox. The site asks you to allow 3 days for the record to go. You can do it yourself for free, or Removal Lab can do it for you.

Every step below comes from SmartBackgroundChecks’ own opt out, privacy and terms pages, which loaded for our check. We also compared them with the pages of AdvancedBackgroundChecks, because the two sites publish strikingly similar notices.

SmartBackgroundChecks opt out at a glance

How to opt out of SmartBackgroundChecks step by step

Step 1. Find your record

Search SmartBackgroundChecks by name first, then use its reverse phone and reverse address searches. The FTC suggests starting with a phone number or address, because those searches can surface records a name search misses. Write down your name, middle name, age, addresses and phone numbers exactly as the record shows them. You will need them for the SmartBackgroundChecks opt out form.

Step 2. Ask for the SmartBackgroundChecks opt out link

Open the opt out page. Choose whether you are the subject of the request or an authorised agent acting for them. Enter your first name, middle name, last name and email address. Tick the box that lets SmartBackgroundChecks email you about your privacy request, accept the certification, complete the captcha and select Submit.

Step 3. Click the link in your email

The site then sends a link to the SmartBackgroundChecks opt out form. The page warns the email can be slow to arrive, so check your spam folder. If you do not click the link within 24 hours, you have to ask for a new one.

Step 4. Fill in the form so it matches your record

Enter your details as they appear on the record you want removed. The site warns that leaving information out or giving inaccurate details will only hold up your SmartBackgroundChecks opt out. If you have more than one record, for example under a maiden name, we suggest a separate request for each. That suggestion is ours, not the site’s.

Step 5. Keep the confirmation and check back

After you submit, you reach a confirmation page. Take a screenshot of it. The site asks you to allow 3 days for the record to be fully removed. Then search again by name, phone and address to confirm your SmartBackgroundChecks removal worked.

Using an agent? The page says the agent’s email address receives the link to the form and that the confirmation goes to both the agent and the person the record is about.

Other routes: phone, deletion and the Do Not Sell page

The SmartBackgroundChecks opt out form is the main route. The site also offers these, according to its privacy notice and its Do Not Sell or Share page.

• Phone. Call 800 571 0614 to opt out or to make a request to know, delete or correct.
• Privacy request page. Its privacy rights form covers requests to know, delete and correct, plus appeals. It asks for your name, email, phone and full address, with optional fields for a middle name, date of birth and the web address of the listing.
• Verification. For requests other than opt outs, the privacy notice says it will try to match two or three of the details you give. Opt out requests need no verification.
• Cookies. To stop sharing through cookies, use the Cookie Management link or send a Global Privacy Control signal.
• Corrections. Its contact page says it does not accept requests to correct information and points people to the official state or county record keeper.

Which route is better? SmartBackgroundChecks publishes its own request figures. They are worth reading before you choose.

These are the figures on its privacy metrics page for the last full calendar year it reports. The page says they include requests from residents of every US state, not only California. Its footnotes say denied requests include people found not to be covered by a privacy law, requests it could not verify and cases where it could not find a matching record. It does not split the figures by reason. What the table does show is that every deletion request in that year was denied, while the SmartBackgroundChecks opt out route is where requests were acted on.

What SmartBackgroundChecks shows and where it gets data

Knowing what the site holds helps you find every record your SmartBackgroundChecks opt out needs to cover. This table comes from its privacy notice and home page.

The home page says its data comes from official agencies reporting at local, state and national level. Its terms describe a database of public records and publicly available sources and say some results rely on logic based assumptions.

What the SmartBackgroundChecks opt out does and does not remove

The SmartBackgroundChecks opt out has limits and the site is unusually frank about them. Its Do Not Sell or Share page says the following.

• Courtesy, not obligation. It will try to apply your request to the publicly available information it collects, as a courtesy. It says public records are not covered by state privacy laws.
• The original source stays. The opt out will not remove the data from its original source.
• Other websites. Your information may still appear on other websites or through other services.
• Data coming back. New public records arrive regularly, so your details may show up again. It recommends refreshing your opt out from time to time.
• Google. Nothing on its pages says it contacts search engines. Old Google results are yours to clear, as shown below.

The FTC makes the same point about people search sites in general: opting out does not delete public records and your details could appear for sale again if those records change.

SmartBackgroundChecks and AdvancedBackgroundChecks: what the two sites share

If you have found yourself on both sites, you are not imagining the resemblance. We read the privacy pages of both and found these matches.

Neither site names the other or a parent company on the pages we opened, so we cannot tell you who owns them. What we can tell you is that neither says a SmartBackgroundChecks opt out covers AdvancedBackgroundChecks, or the reverse. So do both. Our Advanced Background Checks opt out guide covers its steps and what is different there.

One more link worth knowing. The SmartBackgroundChecks footer points to Skip Sherpa as the SmartBackgroundChecks API. Skip Sherpa’s site names Property Reach in Sacramento in its footer. None of these pages says who owns SmartBackgroundChecks.

Can SmartBackgroundChecks be used for background checks?

Not for the checks the law covers. Its terms say it is not a credit reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Its footer says the site cannot be used for employment, credit or tenant screening or any related purpose. The terms also bar users from seeking information about minors or harming them.

Your rights in California: DROP and the CCPA

The CCPA. The California Attorney General says you can ask a business to tell you what it holds, to delete personal information it collected from you, to correct it and to stop selling or sharing it. You can ask to know up to twice a year free of charge. Businesses must answer requests to know, delete and correct within 45 calendar days, or 90 in total if they tell you they need longer. Opt out requests must be handled as soon as feasibly possible and within 15 business days at most. You can also authorise someone else to file for you.

DROP. CalPrivacy’s Delete Request and Opt out Platform lets a California resident send one free deletion request to over 600 registered data brokers. You confirm residency through the California Identity Gateway. Registered brokers must now check DROP at least once every 45 days and CalPrivacy says a status update can take up to 90 days. A parent can file for a child and a family member can file for an elderly relative.

The limits. CalPrivacy says brokers may keep public records such as vehicle or real estate ownership or voting records and that information you gave a broker directly is not deleted through DROP. The Attorney General says publicly available information from government records falls outside the CCPA. SmartBackgroundChecks itself says public records fall outside state privacy laws, so expect the same limit here.

Is SmartBackgroundChecks on the registry? We could not confirm a SmartBackgroundChecks entry. CalPrivacy publishes the registry as download files that were too large for our reader to show in full, so search it yourself before relying on DROP for this site.

Oregon and Texas. Its state privacy notice also names the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act. If it turns a request down, it offers an appeal through its privacy request page or by phone.

How to clear the old Google result

Once your SmartBackgroundChecks opt out has gone through, Google may still show the old title and snippet for a while. Nothing on the site’s pages says it handles that for you.

1. Refresh a result for a page that has changed. In Google’s Refresh outdated content tool, select Request refresh, enter the old SmartBackgroundChecks address on the Page tab and select Submit. Our guide to the Refresh outdated content tool shows each screen.
2. Use Results about you for a page that is still live. Add your name, phone numbers, home addresses and email, then open the To review tab, select the result to expand it and choose Request to remove. You can also search your name, select More next to a result, then Remove result, then It shows my personal info and I don’t want it there, then Contact Info. See how to use Google Results about you.
3. Look wider. Our guides to removing personal information from Google and removing your name from Google cover what is left.

Google lists four request statuses: In progress, Approved, Denied and Undone. It says there may be a delay between approval and the result leaving Search. It also says removing a result from Google does not mean the information is gone from the internet. That is why the step on SmartBackgroundChecks comes first.

If your listing comes back

SmartBackgroundChecks itself says new public records arrive regularly and recommends refreshing your SmartBackgroundChecks opt out. The FTC also tells people to check people search sites from time to time and send a new request when new information appears.

• Check every three months. This timing is our suggestion. Search by name, phone and address.
• Check after any change. A move or a new phone number can create what looks like a new record.
• Keep proof. Save the confirmation page, the email and the details you entered for each SmartBackgroundChecks opt out.
• Turn on alerts. Results about you can email you when new Google results show your contact details.

If someone is using your record to find or threaten you, read our doxxing removal page first.

Mistakes to avoid

• Letting the email link expire. It needs a click within 24 hours.
• Guessing your details. Copy them from the record. The site says inaccurate details hold things up.
• Using the deletion form instead. Its own figures show every deletion request in the year it reports was denied. The SmartBackgroundChecks opt out form is the route it acts on.
• Stopping at one site. Check AdvancedBackgroundChecks and other people search sites too.

A worked example

This is a made up example to show the steps. It is not a client case.

A teacher in Atlanta finds a SmartBackgroundChecks record with her flat, her mobile and her parents’ names. She notes the details exactly and starts her SmartBackgroundChecks opt out by asking for the link. The email lands in spam, so she finds it there and clicks it the same evening. She fills in the form to match the record and screenshots the confirmation page.

Three days later her SmartBackgroundChecks removal has gone through and the record no longer shows. She then finds the same details on AdvancedBackgroundChecks and opts out there too. Google still shows the old title, so she uses Refresh outdated content. Three months later she searches both sites again. Nothing new has appeared.

When it makes sense to get help

A single SmartBackgroundChecks opt out takes a few minutes. Help makes sense when your details sit on many sites, when a record is being used against you or when results for your name are hurting your work. That is what our personal reputation removal and data broker removal services handle. For similar sites, see our guides to the FastPeopleSearch opt out and the TruePeopleSearch opt out.

How Removal Lab works

1. Send the link. WhatsApp, email or the two field form. Two minutes, no long questionnaire.
2. Free policy check. A specialist reads it against the platform rules and tells you honestly whether it qualifies.
3. We build and file the case. The right policy, the right channel, the evidence attached. We handle the appeal too.
4. Pay only when it is gone. No upfront payment on qualifying cases. If the platform says no, you owe nothing.

What we will never do

• Promise a removal. The platform decides, not us.
• Post fake reviews or pay anyone to delete a review.
• Pressure, threaten or try to identify a reviewer.
• Charge an upfront fee on a case that does not qualify.

Frequently asked questions

How do I remove myself from SmartBackgroundChecks?

Go to smartbackgroundchecks.com/optout, enter your name and email and complete the captcha. Click the link it emails you, fill in the form to match your record and submit.

How long does the SmartBackgroundChecks opt out take?

The site asks you to allow 3 days for your record to be fully removed after you submit the form.

Why did I not get the SmartBackgroundChecks email?

The site says the email can be slow to arrive, so check spam. If you do not click the link within 24 hours you need to ask for a new one.

Is the SmartBackgroundChecks opt out free?

The form we opened asks for no payment. The FTC says you can opt out of people search sites on your own, one by one, for free.

Can I do the SmartBackgroundChecks opt out by phone?

Yes. Its privacy notice lists 800 571 0614 for opt out requests and for requests to know, delete or correct.

Does the SmartBackgroundChecks opt out need ID?

No. Its privacy notice says opt out requests do not require verification. Other requests are matched against two or three details you give.

Is SmartBackgroundChecks the same as AdvancedBackgroundChecks?

The two sites publish matching privacy notices and identical request figures, but neither names the other or a parent company. Opt out of each one separately.

Will my information come back?

It can. SmartBackgroundChecks says new public records arrive regularly and recommends refreshing your opt out from time to time.

Can employers use SmartBackgroundChecks?

It says it is not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and cannot be used for employment, credit or tenant screening.

Sources: SmartBackgroundChecks opt out page, SmartBackgroundChecks home page, SmartBackgroundChecks privacy notice, SmartBackgroundChecks state privacy notice, SmartBackgroundChecks Do Not Sell or Share page, SmartBackgroundChecks privacy request form, SmartBackgroundChecks privacy metrics, SmartBackgroundChecks terms, SmartBackgroundChecks contact page, AdvancedBackgroundChecks state privacy notice, AdvancedBackgroundChecks contact page, Skip Sherpa, FTC on people search sites, CalPrivacy: DROP, CalPrivacy: personal information and data brokers, CalPrivacy data broker registry, California Attorney General on the CCPA, Google: Results about you and Google: Refresh outdated content. Removal Lab does not work for SmartBackgroundChecks. Every decision is made by the platform.