by stephenlthorn
2 subcomments
- I got tired spam calls and text, so I built a script that automates the opt-out process across 500+ data brokers on a monthly schedule.
Where I need help:
The heuristic approach misses a lot. Many of the generic sites have unique flows the four generic strategies don't catch. I'm looking for people who want to:
- Verify which generic sites are actually succeeding vs. silently failing
- Add explicit broker definitions for high-value sites that are currently on the generic path
- Test on non-macOS (launchd scheduling is macOS-only; cron fallback would help Linux/Windows users)
- Handle email verification flows (script submits the form but can't click confirmation links in your inbox)
Repo: https://github.com/stephenlthorn/auto-identity-remove
No personal data in the repo — setup script prompts for your info locally and keeps it gitignored.
- I tried this (as a Canadian):
1. It asks you to optionally sign up for a bunch of other services like Spokeo
2. It asks for access to your email via Apple's Mail app which I don't use
3. I got a lot of 404s anyway
4. Many sites require manual intervention to work
Nice idea, but it needs a LOT of TLC to make it generally useful. I suspect that having a non-numeric "zip" code and a non-US address might be breaking a lot of the automation.
by IgorPartola
3 subcomments
- Back in 2011 or so the Yellow Pages still delivered physical phone books to ever address in the state where we were. My city literally sent out an extra off cycle recycling truck the next day to pick them all up. Everyone threw them out.
Well my coworkers and I realized that the opt out form just needed an address. We contemplated pulling all known addresses for the entire country and automating submitting them all over several months to opt everyone out. I don’t think it ever materialized but we had a good chuckle about the emergency meeting the Yellow Pages web devs would have had and at what percentage of opt outs.
- Nothing they do actually improves society so in a healthy society we would be able to outlaw what they do. But we don't. So we can't.
by airstrike
3 subcomments
- > 4. Solves CAPTCHAs via CapSolver (AI-powered, ~$0.001/solve)
Right, so my suspicion was correct: I'm the only one being inconvenienced by the same old captchas.
- The only thing that is tied to MacOS is launchd, seems like that's useful info to add to the docs. I don't know if you can just do a run from the CLI.
Supporting Systemd should be easy. Not sure what windows uses.
by Waffle2180
0 subcomment
- The state tracking and manual fallback are the most interesting parts to me. For a tool like this, I’d really want a dry-run/audit mode that shows which fields would be submitted to which broker before anything is sent. The awkward threat model is that the tool reduces exposure, but a broken selector could also leak personal data to the wrong place.
- I'm wondering if this isn't a nice automated way to send your information to 500 data brokers.
- At least in California, the DROP form is scheduled to come online this fall.
- Interesting. Have you been using it a while and is it working to reduce spam?
by hmokiguess
1 subcomments
- I always get paranoid about these things ever since the Streisand Effect became a thing, I feel like the outcome is you enter a second list and this second list is maybe less friendly as it turns you into an outlier which brings other kinds of problems
It feels like the system is rigged and we need a better answer
by guidedlight
0 subcomment
- > Name, city, state, ZIP, email, phone
Does this work for anyone outside the US as well?
e.g. Will it work for an Australian?
by victorbjorklund
0 subcomment
- Sweet, I've been wondering why it doesn't doesn't exist as an open source solution.
- Having done data broker opt-outs manually using the Big Ass Data Broker Opt Out List (https://github.com/yaelwrites/Big-Ass-Data-Broker-Opt-Out-Li...), very little of the process can be automated. Intentionally.
A few of these services ask you to go find your record among their lists first, so you can confirm which record you want removed using the URL of the record. So either it has to guess on that, or simply isn't doing it.
- Has anyone had any luck deleting themselves from the data brokers who sell cell data to political texters and/or survey companies? Those are the ones I really want to opt out of
- I feel like this is just a way to mark yourself as "active". Do we honestly think evey one of those shady companies sticks to the rules?
by LoganDark
2 subcomments
- I got tired of spammers having my information, so I built a tool that submits an up-to-date copy of my information to over 500 websites. Surely this will help.
Jokes aside, I unironically suspect the purpose of many opt-out forms is merely to record the up-to-date information.
by WhitneyLand
1 subcomments
- Could this task be a nice benchmark for computer use models?
Would interesting to see the success rate for Claude Cowork or Codex’s equivalent feature.
by stephenlthorn
0 subcomment
- Thanks for the lively feedback and comments - this is very much a beta/first attempt.
I hate spam = the only reason I built it. No other intention behind it.
I posted here to get support on making it better so others can use it.
I'll take some of these comments and start iterating on them.
Feel free to submit anything directly to the repo or fork and make it better for your own set up.
by IgorPartola
1 subcomments
- Any chance of this not needing to run on a Mac? I would try it out but want to run it in a Docker container.
by samieljabali
1 subcomments
- Why does one need to be removed from these sites on a monthly schedule?
- Isn't this just a way to confirm that your email is still active, and few miliseconds later you will be getting a lot of new spam from websites you never knew about?
- I like the idea. But I stopped reading when I saw that I have to pay for an API, because it looks like advertising for it in npm package form.
Then I read HN, took a look at the code, GitHub, and found no website. Just an unknown author asking me to pass all my private data to a service to get it removed.
Everything is unclear, even if the intention might be good.
I must admit, I also have trust issues with services like Aura, NordProtect, or SurfShark. They sell you the same thing, plus more. Companies that collect all your information you don't want to see anywhere else. They might sell them or get breached.
I would love to see a do-one-thing-well, open-source alternative to them. But IMO this alternative must be super understandable and secure. Maybe npm and a (for me) unknown API is the wrong choice for that.
by namanaggarwal
0 subcomment
- Is this relevant for the UK? (Genuine question, trying to understand if I should run this)
by mixtureoftakes
1 subcomments
- you ever look on a title and just immediately know that its going on the frontpage + staying there
by himata4113
0 subcomment
- I honestly find these kind of useless. I think a service that simply inserts thousands of bogus entries is way more valuable since a search is useless if it returns 100 addresses for where you live.
by 7777777phil
1 subcomments
- cool idea, happy to try it out
> Searches each data broker site for your name + state
Is this US only or would it also work for international profiles (and if so what would be the "state" equivalent)?
- Can I sue these companies if they don't remove me?
Do they even care if I'm not from their countries of origin?
This always felt like theater to me. They say "we deleted it, trust me bro" and we're supposed to believe it?
- Wow, you will be giving away a shitload of PIID when using this tool, the exact opposite of what it's supposed to do.
by CodeCompost
0 subcomment
- Now this is a good use of AI
by armada1122
0 subcomment
- [flagged]
by lukassbrad
0 subcomment
- [flagged]
by volume_tech
0 subcomment
- [flagged]
- [dead]
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by ramshorst
1 subcomments
- Nice ! Is it a command line tool ? What info does it need to operate ?
by SamuelAdams
1 subcomments
- I use Optery for about two months a year, seems to do a good enough job for most of the data brokers. There are also discounts or promo codes to lower the price as well.
https://www.optery.com/
HN Launch: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30605010
Promo codes: https://www.optery.com/optery-promo-codes/
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