Declare war on junk mail and telemarketers!

Simple Opt Out: This is the master list of businesses to opt out from! This site makes it easier to opt out of data sharing by 50+ companies. This is a collection of all those "we may share your information with..." notices you receive from companies.

Catalog Choice: A cool site where you can cancel unwanted catalogs, and also research how to cancel other unwanted mailings from banks, etc.

Cox Target Media / Valpak: I still use a few of the coupons that we get in the Valpak, but this is the form you can use to opt-out if you don't find them useful.

DAA (Digital Advertising Alliance): With their Consumer Choice Tool for the Web, you can have your web browser analyzed for cross-site advertising cookies and then have them deleted. You don’t need to install an app to do this; but be patient as it can take several minutes.

DMA (Direct Marketing Association): Once you register an account, you can opt-out of magazines, junk mail, and many mailing lists if you don't want to receive all those offers in the mail.

DirectMail.com National Do Not Mail List: This is a free service whereby you can register to have your name removed from postal mailing lists.

Direct Marketing Association: eMPS: eMPS is the Email Preference Service and allows you to remove multiple email addresses from national lists.

Microsoft Privacy Settings: Visit this site in all the web browsers you use and select Off for "Personalized ads wherever I use my Microsoft account" and "Personalized ads in this browser."

National Do Not Call Registry: The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free.

Network Advertising Initiative: The NAI Opt-Out Tool was developed for the express purpose of allowing consumers to "opt out" of the targeted advertising delivered by its members' ad networks. Similar to the DAA's tool mentioned above, select "Manage My Browser's Opt Outs" to see which participating NAI members may be engaging in Interest-Based Advertising on your web browser and to choose which you wish to opt out of.

OptOutPrescreen.com: This is the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry website to accept and process requests from consumers to opt in or opt out of firm offers of credit or insurance. Use this to reduce all those mailings you get for credit card offers.

Shop Now / RedPlum / RetailMeNot: To stop receiving those large packets/booklets of coupons.

World Privacy Forum's Top Ten Opt Outs: As privacy experts, the World Privacy Forum is frequently asked about opting out, and which opt outs they think are the most important. This list is a distillation of ideas for opting out that they have developed over the years from responding to those questions.

Yellow Pages Opt Out: Enter your zip code and this site will give you a list of contacts (web sites, email addresses, and phone numbers) for opting out of yellow page book delivery.

Social Media Opt-Outs

Google and Gmail:

• Change your Google advertising preferences.
• Head to the Apps Connected to Your Account Page (Profile picture > My Accounts > Sign in & Security > Connected Apps & Sites > Manage apps). Click on the apps you want to revoke access from, click remove, then click OK.

Facebook:

• Change your Facebook advertising Ad settings. Be sure to go through the "Audience-based advertising" and be prepared to go through many shared services attempting to advertise to you.
• Head to the App page (Settings > Apps > App Settings > Show All), mouseover an application, then click the 'X' icon to remove an app. Because this is Facebook, you'll have to do this individually for each app, and the list tends to awkwardly rearrange itself each time you remove an app.

Twitter: Head to your Apps page (Settings > Security and account access > Apps and sessions > Connected apps), then click Revoke Access on any apps you no longer want to access Twitter. Also visit the "Logged-in devices and apps" section to see if there are any unexpected devices logged into your account. Lastly, visit their Ads preferences page (via Privacy & Safety) regarding ways to opt out of advertising.

Microsoft: Head to the Apps page (Accounts > Privacy, then scroll down to Apps and Services). Click Edit next to the app you want to remove, then click "Remove these permissions".

Yahoo: Head to the Recent Activity page (Click your profile icon > Settings > Recent Activity), then click "remove""" next to any apps or devices you want to revoke access from.

LinkedIn: Head to the Permitted Services section (Profile > Account > Partners and Third Parties) and click Revoke next to any services you want to remove. Chances are that most of these will look a little weird to you because they're bizarrely named job application sites like iCIMS or Greenhouse.

DropBox: Head to your Connected Apps page (Profile Icon > Settings > Connected apps). You can also click on the "Security" tab to remove old browsers and perform a security checkup.

Flickr: Head to the App Garden page (Click your Profile > Settings > Sharing & Extending, then click Edit next to Account Links), then click "Revoke permission?" next to any apps you want to remove.

Instagram: Head to your Authorized Applications page (Click the gear icon > Authorized Apps from the web app, you can't do this in the mobile app for some reason). Click the "Revoke Access" button on any apps you want to remove.

Pinterest: On Pinterest go to Settings > Apps to see which third-party apps have access to your account, and what kinds of permissions they have. Click "Revoke Access" to remove them.

Foursquare: Head over to the "connections" section of the settings.

People Search Site Opt-Outs

Been Verified is a website that is a major hub for people searches and probably contains a significant amount of information on you. This includes your full name, phone number and street address. To remove your information from BeenVerified completely, follow these steps

1. Visit BeenVerified's opt-out page and search via first name, last name and state.
2. Click the green "Search" button. On the results page, you can filter by city and age if you don't see yourself.
3. When you find your listing, click the green "That's Me!" button.
4. On the Opt-out request page that opens, enter your email address and check the blue optional checkbox. Fill out the required fields and verify the captcha to prove you're not automated. Then, click the green "Send Verification Email" box.
5. Check your inbox and look for an email from the sender Privacy with the subject [BeenVerified] Opt-Out Verification.
6. Open the email and click the link inside. This will bring you to a confirmation page. Removal won't be immediate, however, so expect it to take several days to weeks before your information vanishes.

Cyber Background Checks has a TON of info on you. Consider opting out via their record removal request.

FamilyTreeNow Opt-Out is a free site lets you look up historical records. Shockingly, the site gives away much more information to the public than you would want. If you would like to opt-out of living people and other records then visit their site now.

Instant Checkmate searches public record databases and serves local, state and federal data. To opt out of Instant Checkmate, do the following:

1. Go to Instant Checkmate's opt-out page.
2. Fill out the Expedited Opt out form with all the pertinent information.
3. Pass the Captcha test to verify that you're not a robot then click "Opt Out."

Intelius is one of the biggest data brokers on the web and owns a large chunk of people search sites like Classmates.com, iSearch, ZabaSearch, Peoplelookup, PublicRecords and many others. Previously, you had to fax your driver's license to remove yourself, but the company has made the process much easier in recent years.

1. To get started, click on this link and enter your name and email address.
2. When you find your records, click "Select and Continue".
3. On the next page, enter your email address to confirm your identity and fill in the CAPTCHA code. Then, click "Continue".
4. Open your email and look for a message from the sender Intelius. Click the link inside to continue. Keep in mind the link will expire after 24 hours. If you don't see the email in your inbox, check your spam folder.
5. You will receive a confirmation email with a reference number once the process is complete. It can take up to 72 hours for the opt-out to fully process.
6. After 72 hours have passed, look yourself up again on Intelius. If your information is still showing after you got your confirmation, send an email to CUSTSERV@intelius.com and include the confirmation number you received.

NumLookup is a free reverse phone number lookup. Their opt-out form is not easily found on their website, either.

PeekYou is a search engine that scours more than 60 sites ranging from social media to news sites. To opt out of PeekYou's search results, do the following:

1. Search for yourself on PeekYou using your name and state.
2. If you see a match, click on it to proceed to the profile page. Copy and save the Unique ID number (located at the end of the profile's URL on the address bar).
3. Proceed to PeekYou's opt-out page, fill out the form, including the Unique ID number you saved.
4. Under the Actions drop-down box, select "Remove my entire listing".
5. Complete the Captcha, confirm the fine print checkboxes then hit submit.
6. Wait for the email verification for removal confirmation and after that, your information will be purged from the PeekYou's search results.

Pipl has a privacy policy which outlines its processes and all of the ways the website collects its data. In addition, it also includes a link to an opt-out form you can fill out. Once you’ve filled out the form, expect a follow-up email from Pipl asking you to confirm your identity. This process can potentially take several days.

Radaris is a public records deep search that will surprise you at what you find out about yourself.

• Search for yourself on Radaris.
• On the search results page, look for the profile that matches your information then click on the "Full Profile" button.
• Next, on the selected profile page, click on the down arrow located to the right of the name (next to the "Background Check & Contact Info" button) then select "Control Info."
• On the next page, click the "Control Info" button again to confirm.
• Now, Radaris will require you to sign up with an email address, a Facebook account or a Google account. Since this is its way of verifying that you are who you say you are, there is no way around this.
• Once signed up and logged in, it will ask you to confirm your real name. If your registration name is different from the profile name you're trying to control, the site will ask you for your first, middle, and last names.
• Next, it will ask for a cellphone number for the verification codes it will send you. Once these verification codes are entered on the site, the "claimed profile" will be hidden from Radaris searches.

Spokeo aggregates publicly-available information from third-party sources, so removing your information from this listing, like most, doesn't remove the information from the original source. To opt-out, do the following:

1. Do a Spokeo search for your name.
2. Copy and save the URL of your profile match listing.
3. Head on to Spokeo's opt-out page.
4. Paste your saved Spokeo profile URL in the provided field.
5. Enter a valid email address for the confirmation link (we recommend using anonymous mail services like Maildrop).
6. Pass the Captcha test then click "Remove This Listing".
7. Verify with the removal confirmation email.

Spy Dialer is a free people, phone number, address, and email search, and it's a good one. That said, you might want to use their opt-out form to make just a bit harder for people to find these things out about you.

TruthFinder has a link to their opt-out form you can fill out.

To opt out of White Pages, you'll need to locate your profile using the search bar at the top of the website and paste the URL into their form.

ZoomInfo has a specific page for opting out that requires you to fill out a form. Visit their page and provide your email address to begin the opt-out process. You should receive an email from ZoomInfo in your inbox with a code. Click the link in the email, type in the code it included and follow the on-screen instructions to opt-out.

Just Delete Me is a directory of direct links to delete your account from hundreds web services and sites.

Big Ass Data Broker Opt-Out List is a lengthy and current list of search engines and people search sites to be removed from.