SmartBackgroundChecks is another entry in the free people-search pack: type a name, get addresses, phone numbers, ages, and relatives at no charge. Its listings tend to rank well in search engines, so it's frequently one of the top results a stranger sees when they look you up, which makes it a high-value removal despite the generic branding.
The site's opt-out is free, self-service, and among the faster ones to process. Here's the walkthrough.
Steps checked against SmartBackgroundChecks' live opt-out page on October 16, 2026. We read the page; we did not submit it, so the removal form behind the emailed link is as SmartBackgroundChecks describes it.
What is SmartBackgroundChecks?
SmartBackgroundChecks builds free listings from public records and commercial data:
- Full name, age, and aliases
- Current address and address history
- Cell and landline numbers
- Relatives and associates, cross-linked to their own listings
Like its lookalike cousins (Advanced-, Cyber-), it's a people-search directory wearing background-check branding, no FCRA screening involved, no paywall either.
Before you start
- Have an email address you can check the same day. The removal form is behind an emailed link, and SmartBackgroundChecks says you need a new link if you wait more than 24 hours to click it. A dedicated opt-out email address keeps your primary inbox out of broker systems.
- Open your listing first and note how your name, address and other details appear. The removal form should match the record you want removed.
- List your name variants and past states; multiple records are the norm for movers, and each record needs its own removal.
How to remove yourself from SmartBackgroundChecks, step by step
Step 1: Open the opt-out page
Go to smartbackgroundchecks.com/optout. It opens the site's "Opt Out Process" page, headed "Do Not Sell/Right to Opt-out." The site footer also has a "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" link. The page frames the opt-out as a state-law right, but the first form does not ask for your state.
Step 2: Ask for the removal-form link
Choose "The subject of the request" (a person you have authorized can pick "An authorized agent of the subject of the request" instead). Enter your first and last name (middle name if you use one) and your email address, tick the box that authorizes privacy emails and certifies who you are, complete the CAPTCHA, and click Submit.
Step 3: Click the emailed link within 24 hours
SmartBackgroundChecks emails you a link to the opt-out form. It says the email may take some time to arrive, and that if you wait more than 24 hours to click it, you'll need to request a new one.
Step 4: Fill in the opt-out form
Enter your details so they match the record you want removed. SmartBackgroundChecks says leaving things out or entering inaccurate information only slows the opt-out down, and asks you to fill in the whole form accurately.
Step 5: Keep the confirmation
After you submit, you land on a confirmation page saying the request was received and is being processed, and you also get a confirmation email.
Step 6: Repeat for every record
Search again with middle initials and old states. Submit a separate removal for each listing you find.
How long does removal take?
SmartBackgroundChecks asks you to allow 3 days for your record to be fully removed from the site. Check after three days, and file again for anything still standing.
Verify the removal
In a private browsing window, search your name plus state, then your phone number. Records occasionally persist under one lookup path after vanishing from another. Anything left standing gets its own fresh removal.
Why your listing can come back
SmartBackgroundChecks updates its database from public records on an ongoing basis. New records (a move, a new number, a re-sourced data batch) can rebuild a listing that your old opt-out doesn't cover. Silent reappearance a few months later is common enough across this site family that we'd call it expected behavior.
The counter is monitoring: re-check quarterly, or hand it to Defynta's Web Watcher. Silver subscribers can turn on monitoring, which rescans SmartBackgroundChecks and the other sites we read every 30 days by default and emails you when a listing comes back.
Who runs SmartBackgroundChecks. California's data broker registry (read October 18, 2026) lists it among the websites of Mississippi Tornado Alley, LLC, together with AdvancedBackgroundChecks, CyberBackgroundChecks, FastBackgroundCheck, FastPeopleSearch, PeopleSearchNow, PhoneBooks.com, SearchPeopleFree, USA People Search and USPhoneBook. The ones we have guides for each have their own removal form, so file each one that lists you rather than counting on one removal to cover the rest. The registry entry says an opt-out of sale made on any of the company's sites applies across all of them, but it does not say a listing removed on one comes off the others.
Related sites to check next
Everything else: the master opt-out list.
Frequently asked questions
Is the SmartBackgroundChecks opt-out free?
Yes. Free, no account, roughly five minutes per record.
Why do I have three records on this site?
Each distinct name/address combination in the upstream data tends to become its own record. Prior states, maiden names, and even typos in source records multiply listings. Remove each one.
Do these free "background check" sites show court records?
They lean on contact and address data; deeper records are usually teased as links to paid partners. The free layer is what exposes you day-to-day, and it's the layer the opt-out removes.
What email should I use?
One you can open the same day (the removal form is only reachable through the emailed link, which goes stale after 24 hours), ideally not your primary. A masked or dedicated address is the standard hygiene for broker opt-outs.
*One record down, a database refresh away from coming back. See your listings across the people-search sites we track with a free Defynta scan.*
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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.