OpenPayrolls won't take your pay record down because you ask. Its FAQ says it does not remove public records, because that would misrepresent the data the government or employer released. The exception is a mistake: if the government or employer released your name or other information that should not have been made public, OpenPayrolls asks for an official affidavit with proof from that agency or employer, and says it will work to expeditiously redact the data points deemed not public record. Its Do Not Sell or Share page adds that privacy opt-out rights won't remove or alter the records.
OpenPayrolls.com publishes public compensation records. The October 2025 copy of its FAQ said it had catalogued over 18,600 datasets covering 1999 to 2025, made up of compensation records that government agencies and publicly funded entities released as public records under the Freedom of Information Act and public record laws. If a public agency or another publicly funded employer pays you, your name and pay may be there.
OpenPayrolls.com showed us a security check on October 26, 2026, so we could not read its live pages. This guide is checked against the Internet Archive's copies of its FAQ, privacy policy (last modified December 10, 2018), terms and conditions (last modified September 2, 2021) and Report a Problem page, all captured October 11, 2025; its Contact Us page, captured October 3, 2026; and its Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information page, captured September 22, 2026. On October 26 we also read Transparent California's FAQ and California's data broker registry. We read the pages; we did not search for anyone or submit anything.
What OpenPayrolls will and won't do
- It won't remove a public record. The FAQ says removal would misrepresent the data the government or employer released, and could cause suspicion of wrongdoing if some employees were missing. The terms' "Removal of Information" section says much the same.
- It will redact a mistaken release. If a name or other information was released that should not have been, the FAQ asks for an official affidavit with proof from the appropriate government agency or employer. OpenPayrolls says it will then work to expeditiously redact the data points deemed not public record.
- Withheld names are the employer's call. The FAQ says some names are exempt from public records disclosure, and gives undercover officers, military and other positions that need confidentiality as examples. It says this is decided at the government or employer level before the records are released, and that OpenPayrolls has no control over it.
- Privacy opt-outs don't touch the records. Its Do Not Sell or Share page says public record information on the site is not subject to deletion, suppression or modification through privacy opt-out rights, and that submitting a privacy preference will not remove or alter it.
- Removal doesn't reach the original. The privacy policy says original copies of public data can only be changed by the government agencies they come from, and that removing content from OpenPayrolls doesn't delete or change those originals.
Step 1: start with the agency or employer that released the record
OpenPayrolls acts only on the agency's word, and its Do Not Sell or Share page says that to request corrections or changes to a public record, you must contact the government agency that maintains the original record. That is usually your employer: the school district, city, county, state agency or university that pays you.
- Ask the agency's public records office, or HR, whether your name and pay were released, and for which years.
- Ask whether your position, or your situation, qualifies for withholding under your state's public records law. OpenPayrolls' FAQ gives undercover officers and military as examples of names that are exempt.
- If the agency agrees your name or another detail should not have been released, ask it for the official affidavit with proof that OpenPayrolls asks for. Explain that it is for a payroll website that will only redact on the agency's word.
What can be withheld depends on your state's law. As one example, Transparent California's FAQ says California's Public Records Act treats public employee names, salary and pension information as public record, and that the California Supreme Court has held local agency employees have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their name, salary and dates of employment. That site says that if you think you have a case for removing your name, you should take it up with the agency that reported the data, and that it removes names only when an agency tells it to, for redaction reasons the law allows.
Step 2: send OpenPayrolls the request
- Copy the address of every OpenPayrolls page that shows your record.
- Open the Contact Us form at openpayrolls.com/contact. The copy we read asks for your full name, email address and a message. We found no email address on the pages we read.
- In the message, say the agency released your name or another detail by mistake, list each page address and the data point you want redacted, and say you have the agency's affidavit. The form has no attachment field, so ask how to send it.
A suggested wording:
[Agency or employer name] released my [name / other detail] by mistake, and it should not have been made public. I have an official affidavit with proof from the agency. Please tell me where to send it.
Pages that show it: [links]
Data point to redact: [name / detail]
Please confirm when the redaction is done.
What a removal covers
- Only what the agency confirms. OpenPayrolls says it redacts the data points deemed not public record. A record that is still public stays up.
- Only OpenPayrolls. The privacy policy says removing content from the site doesn't change the original public data, and the same payroll release can be published elsewhere. GovSalaries, for one, has a removal policy worded almost the same way.
- Not the Do Not Sell toggle. That opt-out covers advertising and similar data disclosures from your visits to the site, stored in a cookie. The page says it doesn't affect public record information.
How long does it take?
The FAQ says OpenPayrolls will work "expeditiously" once it has the affidavit, but gives no timeframe. How long the agency takes is up to the agency.
If it doesn't work
- If the record is wrong, not just unwanted. The site's footer asks you to use the Report a Problem link for possible problems with the accuracy of the data, and says OpenPayrolls will promptly address it. The form at openpayrolls.com/report-a-problem asks for your name, email, the URL where the problem exists and a message. The Do Not Sell or Share page says changes to a public record itself go through the agency that maintains it, so ask the agency too.
- Follow up in writing. Keep a dated copy of what you sent and the affidavit.
- Clear the old search result. Once a page changes, Google may still show the old version for a while; see how to remove your home address from Google search results for Google's refresh tool.
OpenPayrolls isn't one of the sites in Defynta's free scan, and Defynta doesn't file requests with it: this one is do-it-yourself.
Who runs OpenPayrolls. The terms we read describe the agreement as being with "the owner and operator of OpenPayrolls.com" without naming a company, and say Florida law governs, with any litigation brought in Orange County, Florida. We found no postal address. The site says it is not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and prohibits using its information to make decisions about employment, consumer credit, insurance or tenant screening. We did not find OpenPayrolls on California's data broker registry (searched October 26, 2026), so the state's DROP tool, which sends requests to registered brokers, is not a route here.
Related pages
- GovSalaries, another public payroll site that doesn't remove records
- VoterRecords.com, public voter files, where full removal needs an exemption
- BlockShopper, property records, with exceptions for police and public safety workers
- Where data brokers get your information
- How to remove your home address from Google search results
Full list: the master opt-out guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I remove my name from OpenPayrolls?
Not on request. OpenPayrolls' FAQ says it does not remove public records. It will redact a name or other detail only if the government or employer released it by mistake and you send an official affidavit with proof from that agency or employer.
Does "Do Not Sell or Share" remove my pay record?
No. The page says public record information on the site is not subject to deletion, suppression or modification through privacy opt-out rights. The opt-out covers advertising and similar disclosures from your visits.
Why are some names redacted and mine isn't?
The FAQ says certain names are exempt from public records disclosure, such as undercover officers and military, and that this is decided at the government or employer level before the records are released. Ask your agency whether your position qualifies.
My pay figure is wrong. How do I fix it?
Use the Report a Problem form with the page's URL, and ask the agency to check its own record. OpenPayrolls says corrections to a public record go through the agency that maintains it.
Does it cost anything?
None of the pages we read mention a fee.
A public payroll site is one place your name turns up; people-search sites are another. See which of the sites we track list you with a free Defynta scan.
Free scan
See which people-search sites list you.
Web Watcher checks the people-search sites we track for your name and links you to the ones it cannot read itself. You see the results before you create an account.