stephenlthorn/auto-identity-remove

Auto-identity-remove is a script that tries to scrub personal information from data broker websites on a regular schedule. Data brokers are companies that collect names, phone numbers, addresses, and other details about people and then sell or display that information on people-search sites such as Spokeo, WhitePages, or BeenVerified. Most of those sites have an opt-out form, but filling them out by hand for hundreds of sites is tedious, and brokers tend to re-add the same data after a few months. This tool aims to automate the whole cycle. The README says it covers more than five hundred broker sites across two tiers. About forty-two of them are hand-mapped with specific instructions in a STATUS file, and the rest are handled by a generic runner that tries four common strategies, such as clicking a Do Not Sell link or filling a generic privacy form. Each month, the script searches each broker for the user's name and state, finds the matching listing, submits the opt-out form, solves any CAPTCHAs through a paid service called CapSolver, and skips brokers that were already cleaned recently within a ninety-day window. After every run it sends a summary by iMessage, by a webhook to services like ntfy.sh or Slack, or both. Running it needs Node.js 18 or newer and the Playwright browser automation library, which the README explains how to install with a single command. After cloning the repository and running npm install, a setup script asks for the user's name and aliases, address, email, phone, an optional CapSolver API key, accounts on sites that require login, a phone number for text notifications, and then registers a monthly job using launchd on macOS, systemd or cron on Linux, or schtasks on Windows. The README stresses that the personal information stays in local config and state files that are listed in .gitignore. A Dockerfile is included so the tool can run headless on any machine, with config.json and state.json mounted in as volumes so opt-out history is remembered between runs. A dry-run mode submits no forms and makes no network calls. The README is careful about what success means. A submitted form is not the same as a confirmed deletion. A separate verify mode re-searches each broker and reports whether the name still appears, and runs are tagged with statuses like submitted, awaiting email confirm, skipped, not listed, manual needed, error, and dead URL.