Going further · Step 8 of 13

Marketing lists and data brokers

Companies collect and sell information about you to send you offers and calls.¹ This step covers the official ways to opt out of some of it.

Credit and insurance offers

You may get credit card or insurance offers in the mail because of information in your credit report.² A company decides who qualifies for its products, and a credit bureau can tell it which people meet those requirements.² These are called prescreened offers.

You can opt out at OptOutPrescreen.com. The major credit bureaus run it.² You can opt out for five years online. To opt out for good, you start online and then sign and mail a form.²

The site asks for your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth.² The FTC says the information you give is confidential and may be used only to process your request.² Before you type anything, check that your browser shows OptOutPrescreen.com in the address bar.

Think about whether you want these offers first. If you are shopping for credit or insurance, they can help you compare options.² And offers that aren't based on prescreening will keep coming, because opting out doesn't stop those mailings.²

Go to OptOutPrescreen.com

Sales calls

The National Do Not Call Registry was created to stop unwanted sales calls.² Signing up a home or cell number is free at DoNotCall.gov.² It can take up to 31 days for sales calls to stop.² After you sign up, you shouldn't get live sales calls from companies you haven't done business with before.¹

If you keep getting unwanted calls after that, the FTC says they are likely from scammers.² You can report unwanted sales calls and robocalls at DoNotCall.gov.¹

Promotional mail

At DMAchoice.org, you can choose which catalogs, magazine offers, and other mail you want to get.² The FTC says it "will stop most, but not all, promotional mail."² It charges a $6 processing fee, and your sign-up lasts 10 years.²

Sign-up sites that sell your information

Some websites that offer coupons, sweepstakes, or insurance and warranty quotes collect your information and sell it to telemarketers.¹ Before you enter your information on a site like that, the FTC suggests searching the site's name plus "complaint," "review," or "scam."¹ If you still want to use it, give it your separate email and number from Step 7.

Data brokers

A data broker is a business that collects personal information about people from many sources and sells it to other companies.³ People-search sites, covered in Step 6, are one kind of data broker.⁴

Some states keep a public list of data brokers, called a registry. California's registry lets you see what each registered broker reported, including its contact information.³ California residents can also use the state's DROP tool to send one request to all active data brokers asking them to delete their personal information.³

This site does not give legal advice. We can't tell you whether a law applies to you or what you should do about it. A licensed lawyer in your state can.

To find registries and tools for your state, go to resources by state.

What to do

1. Decide whether you want prescreened credit and insurance offers. If not, opt out at OptOutPrescreen.com.
2. Sign up your home and cell numbers at DoNotCall.gov.
3. If you get a lot of catalogs and promotional mail, consider DMAchoice.org.
4. Before you enter your details on a coupon, contest, or quote site, look it up first.¹
5. Use your separate email and number from Step 7 for sign-ups.
6. Check resources by state for a data broker registry or tool where you live.

Last checked: November 8, 2026