The accuracy problem
Data brokers imply the profiles they sell are reliable, current, and well-sourced. The reality is messier. Independent analyses and consumer complaints consistently show 20% to 30% of broker listings contain errors significant enough to matter — wrong information attributed to real people, sold to anyone for a few dollars.
These are not trivial typos. The most common categories of error include:
- Wrong middle names or suffixes -- a junior confused with a senior, or a middle initial pulled from a different person's record entirely
- Outdated addresses listed as current -- an apartment you left eight years ago still showing as your primary residence, because the broker never received an update
- Non-relatives listed as relatives -- former roommates, ex-spouses' new partners, or complete strangers who once shared your address appear as "known associates" or "possible relatives"
- Age and birth year errors -- profiles for two people with the same name get merged, producing a single record with the wrong age
- Criminal records from namesakes -- someone who shares your name has an arrest record, and the broker's automated matching assigns it to your profile
- Stale employer information -- a job you held a decade ago listed as your current employer, because broker databases rarely receive termination updates
The root cause is structural. Brokers ingest billions of records from voter registrations, property filings, court records, utility connections, magazine subscriptions, warranty cards, and other sources. Matching records to the right person is algorithmic, with no human review. When two people share a name, or when a source record has a typo, the broker has no way to catch it. The error propagates silently.
Who gets hurt by inaccurate data
Broker errors are not an abstract problem. They produce concrete, documented harm to real people. The damage tends to cluster around three groups.
Job applicants
A hiring manager runs an informal background check on a people-search site, finds a criminal record, and passes on the candidate — who never gets to explain that the record belongs to a stranger with the same name. Unlike FCRA-regulated background check services, people-search sites have no duty to notify the subject, verify the match, or offer a dispute process. People lose job opportunities based on information that is simply wrong.
People denied housing
Landlords use the same sites to screen tenants. An eviction record belonging to a namesake, or an outdated address suggesting instability, can sink an application. The tenant has no way to know the search happened and no way to challenge what the landlord found. Small landlords, who screen on their own rather than through regulated services, are most likely to rely on unverified broker data.
Data doppelgangers
The worst category. When a broker's matching algorithm merges two people into one profile, the result describes neither person accurately — your name with someone else's criminal record and a third person's phone number. Common names (Smith, Johnson, Garcia, Williams) carry the highest risk. Untangling a merged profile means contacting every broker that carries the bad data, and the merge often recurs at the next refresh.
Wondering how exposed you are? Delist.ai scans for your exposure and shows exactly where your personal information appears.
Check your exposure free →Why brokers don't fix errors
If you have ever tried to correct a broker error, you already know: it is nearly impossible. Most brokers offer opt-out (delete the profile) but almost none offer a dispute process. That is a business decision, not an oversight.
Volume is the product, not accuracy. Brokers make money by selling access to the biggest possible database. A broker with 300 million profiles charges more than one with 200 million. Verifying each record — confirming that Robert Thorpe at 142 Maple Street is the right Robert Thorpe, and the criminal record actually belongs to him — would be enormously expensive. No broker's revenue model absorbs that.
There is no verification step in ingestion. A new batch of public records gets processed algorithmically and added to the database. No human review, no confirmation, no cross-reference. The system is built for throughput, not accuracy. "Robert Thorpe, age 41, Brooklyn NY" gets merged with an existing "Robert Thorpe, Brooklyn NY" regardless of whether it is the same person.
Opt-out is cheaper to build than dispute resolution. Opt-out is binary: delete the profile or don't. Dispute resolution would require brokers to evaluate claims, investigate sources, make judgment calls, and rebuild profiles. It would also expose them to liability if they got a correction wrong. Letting people remove themselves is far cheaper than answering the accuracy question.
What you can do
Dispute errors on individual sites
If a listing contains factually wrong information — a criminal record that is not yours, a relative you have never met, an address you never lived at — contact the broker and request a correction. Most do not have a dedicated dispute form; use their general contact email or opt-out page and explain the error in writing. Include documentation: a government-issued ID, a court record showing a charge was dismissed, or proof you never lived at the listed address. Some brokers will correct specific fields; others will only remove the whole profile.
Know your FCRA rights
If a broker sells your data for FCRA-covered purposes — credit, employment screening, housing, or insurance underwriting — they must maintain reasonable accuracy and offer a dispute process. Most people-search sites include a disclaimer that their data should not be used for FCRA purposes, which is how they avoid those obligations. If you can show broker data was used in a covered decision (a denied job that referenced broker data, for example), you may have legal recourse. The FTC and CFPB both accept FCRA complaints.
Why removal often beats correction
Correcting errors across broker sites is whack-a-mole. Fix one, the error persists at thirty others. Meanwhile the broker you corrected may re-ingest the bad data and overwrite your fix within months. For most people, full profile removal is faster, more effective, and more durable than chasing field-level corrections. A removal service that monitors all your listings and re-submits when profiles reappear is the practical answer.
Frequently asked questions
How do data brokers get information wrong?
Most errors come from automated record matching. Brokers ingest billions of records from public filings, commercial databases, and other brokers, then use algorithms to link records to individuals. When two people share a name, or when a record contains a data entry error at the source, the algorithm may assign the record to the wrong person. There is no human review step. Common results include merged profiles (two people combined into one), stale data presented as current, and criminal or court records attributed to the wrong individual.
Can I sue a data broker for publishing wrong information about me?
It depends on how the data was used. If a broker's data was used in a credit, employment, housing, or insurance decision, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) may apply, and you could have grounds for a lawsuit. For general people-search listings not tied to a covered decision, legal options are more limited. Some states have passed laws creating additional consumer protections, but there is no federal law that broadly requires data brokers to maintain accuracy for general-purpose lookups. Consult an attorney if you have suffered material harm from incorrect broker data.
If I correct my data at one broker, does it fix it everywhere?
No. Each data broker maintains its own database independently. Correcting an error at one broker has no effect on the dozens of other brokers that may carry the same incorrect information. Worse, the broker you corrected may re-ingest the bad data from another source during its next database refresh, restoring the error. This is why many privacy experts recommend full profile removal over individual corrections -- and why ongoing monitoring is necessary to catch re-listings.
Are some people more affected by broker errors than others?
Yes. People with common names face the highest risk, because brokers are more likely to confuse them with others who share their name. People who have moved frequently also see more errors, as brokers struggle to determine which address is current. Individuals with common first-and-last-name combinations like James Smith or Maria Garcia may have profiles that are composites of multiple people, making the data unreliable for anyone who looks them up.
Do data brokers ever verify the information they publish?
In practice, no. Data brokers aggregate records at scale and rely entirely on automated matching. They do not contact individuals to confirm accuracy, and they do not cross-reference records against authoritative sources like government databases. Some brokers claim to use "advanced matching algorithms" or "multi-source verification," but this means they check whether multiple unverified sources agree -- not whether the underlying data is correct. If the same error appears in three different source databases, the broker treats it as confirmed.
See what data brokers have published about you
Run a free scan to check your exposure across the web -- including errors you might not know about.
Start your free scan →