Is Intelius Safe? What 20 Billion Records Say About You (2026)

What makes Intelius different from every other data broker on this list: it’s not one site. Intelius is the flagship of PeopleConnect, Inc. — a conglomerate that runs 12+ people-search platforms under separate brand names. When your data is on Intelius, it is simultaneously live on TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate, US Search, ZabaSearch, and at least seven more — all pulling from the same 20 billion+ record database. Add a $62 million unauthorized billing scandal and an FTC investigation, and the picture gets clearer.

Suppressing your data across the entire PeopleConnect network is step one — but that still leaves hundreds of independent brokers untouched. DeleteMe covers all PeopleConnect brands plus 986+ other sites, with quarterly re-scans that catch the profiles PeopleConnect quietly relists.

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What Is Intelius?

Intelius is a people-search and background-check platform founded in 2003 in Bellevue, Washington. It aggregates personal information from public records, government filings, phone directories, property records, and commercial data sources — then sells access to detailed personal profiles through monthly subscriptions.

What makes Intelius different from other data brokers is its scale. Intelius is not a single site — it is the flagship brand of PeopleConnect, Inc., a conglomerate that operates 12+ people-search platforms under separate brand names:

When your data appears on Intelius, it typically appears on all of these simultaneously — because they pull from the same underlying database. The illusion of separate services masks a single data operation.

20 Billion Records: What Intelius Actually Holds

Intelius claims the largest public records database of any consumer-facing people-search site — over 20 billion records. With a US population of roughly 330 million, that averages to 60+ records per American. The depth comes from two decades of accumulation: every address you have lived at, every phone number you have had, and every public filing tied to your name.

Here is what a typical Intelius profile contains:

Always included: Full name and aliases, current and past addresses, mobile and landline phone numbers, email addresses, age and date of birth, relatives and known associates, criminal and arrest records, court and civil filings, property ownership, bankruptcies and liens.

Often included: Employment history, education history, marriage and divorce records.

Sometimes included: Social media profiles, professional licenses.

Unlike Radaris, Intelius does not publish partial Social Security numbers. But the combination of criminal records, address history spanning decades, and family member names creates a social engineering toolkit — enough for a scammer to impersonate you to a bank, pass security verification questions, or build a targeted phishing campaign.

The $62 Million Billing Scandal

Intelius has a documented history of deceptive billing practices that sets it apart from competitors.

In 2010, the Washington State Attorney General reached a settlement with Intelius after a two-year investigation revealed:

• Over 800,000 consumers were enrolled in an “Identity Protect” membership program without their express authorization during the first year Intelius used bundled marketing
• Intelius billed those consumers nearly $62 million through these unauthorized enrollments
• Thousands of consumer complaints were filed alleging unauthorized charges on credit cards after one-time searches
• Company management — including then-CEO Naveen Jain — was aware of the complaints but continued the practices

The settlement required Intelius to pay $1.3 million and prohibited the company from contracting with certain membership programs.

Additionally, the FTC investigated Intelius for potential violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act — specifically around how credit-related information was disseminated to consumers without proper safeguards.

The Better Business Bureau continues to log hundreds of complaints about Intelius, primarily around:

• Trial subscriptions auto-renewing into full-price memberships ($24.86/month)
• Difficulty canceling subscriptions
• Excessive hold times when calling to cancel
• No clear online cancellation process

This billing history matters because many people discover Intelius when they Google themselves, see a result on an Intelius subsidiary site, and sign up for a “trial” to view their own data — then get trapped in recurring charges.

Intelius Pricing: The Trial Trap

Intelius uses a low-price trial model that auto-converts into a monthly subscription:

The trial is the concern. Users who sign up for a $0.95 report to check their own data are auto-enrolled in a $24.86/month subscription unless they cancel within 5 days. Given the company’s documented history of making cancellation difficult, this pattern is the primary source of consumer complaints.

If you want to check your own Intelius profile before opting out: use a virtual or prepaid card and set a calendar reminder to cancel before day 5.

The Safety Question Depends on Which Side You’re On

If you are paying Intelius for a report, the transaction itself is secure — standard SSL encryption, no disclosure of your search to the subject. The real risk to customers is financial: the trial-to-subscription trap documented above has generated thousands of BBB complaints and a state attorney general settlement.

If your information is in Intelius, the risk is structural. It is not just that one site has your data — it is that PeopleConnect publishes the same profile across 12+ independently branded platforms, each indexed by Google under its own domain. A person searching your name might find you on TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate, or ZabaSearch without realizing every result traces back to the same Intelius database. That network effect means your exposure is 12x wider than it appears from any single site.

How to Remove Yourself from Intelius (and All PeopleConnect Sites)

The most efficient approach is using PeopleConnect’s centralized suppression portal, which removes you from all PeopleConnect-owned brands in a single request.

Step-by-step opt-out (as of September 2026):

1. Go to suppression.peopleconnect.us — this is PeopleConnect’s centralized removal portal
2. Enter your full name, city, and state to locate your profile
3. Select the correct record from the search results — verify the address and age match yours
4. Submit the suppression request
5. Check your email for a verification link and confirm the removal
6. Allow up to 14 days for the suppression to process across all PeopleConnect brands

This single opt-out covers Intelius, TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate, US Search, ZabaSearch, DateCheck, PeopleLookup, Classmates, iSearch, and Addresses.com simultaneously.

The reappearance problem: PeopleConnect continuously ingests new public records. Profiles typically reappear within 2–4 months as fresh data enters their pipeline. You will need to resubmit the suppression request multiple times per year for sustained removal.

PeopleConnect Is One Network — the Data Broker Ecosystem Has Dozens

Suppressing your PeopleConnect profile is efficient — one request, 12 sites gone. But PeopleConnect is just one of several data broker networks. The others operate independently and won’t be touched by your PeopleConnect suppression:

• PeopleLooker network (BeenVerified, NeighborWho, Ownerly) — separate opt-out required
• Whitepages — often the highest-ranking Google result for your name
• Spokeo — pulls from 120+ sources independently
• Radaris — publishes partial SSNs, BBB F rating
• FastPeopleSearch, MyLife, PeopleFinder — each with its own removal process

That is six separate opt-outs just to cover the major players — before you get to the 400+ smaller brokers most people have never heard of. And every one of them re-ingests your data on its own schedule.

The math is what pushes most people toward automation. A dedicated removal service covers the full PeopleConnect network alongside hundreds of independent brokers, re-checking quarterly so suppressions don’t silently lapse.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Intelius legal?

Legally, yes — selling compiled public records is permitted under federal law. But Intelius has a compliance record that most legitimate companies would find embarrassing. The Washington Attorney General forced a $1.3 million settlement after 800,000 consumers were billed without authorization. The FTC investigated the company for potential FCRA violations. The BBB logs ongoing complaints about billing traps. “Legal” and “trustworthy” are not the same thing.

Who owns Intelius?

PeopleConnect, Inc. — the largest data broker conglomerate in the US. PeopleConnect also runs TruthFinder (fined $5.8M by the FTC), Instant Checkmate, US Search, ZabaSearch, DateCheck, PeopleLookup, Classmates, and iSearch. Your Intelius profile is not isolated — it is replicated across every brand in the network. The upside: one suppression request at suppression.peopleconnect.us covers all of them.

Does Intelius notify someone when you search for them?

No — searches are invisible to the subject. Intelius does not alert, notify, or disclose search activity in any form. That confidentiality is what makes the platform useful for legitimate purposes and dangerous for illegitimate ones. There is no mechanism to know who has looked you up or how many times.

How accurate is Intelius?

Intelius disclaims accuracy in its own terms of service — and for good reason. The 20-billion-record database is assembled mechanically without human verification. Reports routinely contain wrong phone numbers, addresses from a decade ago listed as current, and criminal records that belong to a different person with the same name. The danger is that consumers of these reports don’t know what’s wrong. An employer, landlord, or date who Googles you and lands on Intelius has no way to distinguish the accurate data from the errors.

Does opting out of Intelius remove me from TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate?

Yes — and this is Intelius’s one operational advantage over standalone brokers. Because PeopleConnect runs all of these brands from a single backend, one suppression request at suppression.peopleconnect.us wipes your profile from Intelius, TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate, US Search, ZabaSearch, and the rest simultaneously. The catch: PeopleConnect re-ingests public records continuously, so expect to resubmit every few months.

The Bottom Line

Most data brokers operate one site. Intelius operates a network — 12+ brands, one database, 20 billion records — and charged 800,000 people without their consent along the way. The PeopleConnect suppression portal is the one bright spot: a single request genuinely removes you from the entire network. But it is a temporary fix on a 2–4 month timer, and it touches nothing outside PeopleConnect’s walls.

If you are going to do one thing today: submit the suppression at suppression.peopleconnect.us. If you want to stay off — not just Intelius, but the hundreds of independent brokers that PeopleConnect cannot reach — a service that handles the full ecosystem is the only approach that scales.

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Related: Is Instant Checkmate Safe? | Is TruthFinder Safe? | How to Opt Out of the 15 Biggest Data Brokers | Best Data Broker Removal Services (2026)