How to Remove Yourself from BlockShopper (2026 Opt-Out Guide)

What Is BlockShopper?

BlockShopper is a real estate news website that publishes details about residential property transactions across the United States. Founded in 2007 and originally focused on the Chicago area, BlockShopper has expanded to cover real estate sales in hundreds of communities nationwide. The site operates by pulling data from public county recorder offices and presenting property sales in an easy-to-browse, neighborhood-by-neighborhood format.

What makes BlockShopper different from sites like Zillow or Realtor.com is its focus on the people behind the transactions, not just the properties. When you buy or sell a home, BlockShopper publishes an article-style post that includes your full name, the property address, the sale price, the date of the transaction, and often a photo of the property. These posts are indexed by search engines and can appear prominently when someone searches for your name online.

For homeowners, this creates a privacy concern that most people do not anticipate when they close on a property. Your name, your home address, and the price you paid are all linked together in a format that is designed to be found.

What Information Does BlockShopper Publish?

BlockShopper property sale posts typically include:

• Buyer's full name (and sometimes the seller's name)
• Property street address with city, state, and ZIP code
• Sale price — the exact amount the property sold for
• Date of sale — when the transaction was recorded
• Property type — single-family home, condo, townhouse, etc.
• Square footage and lot size — in many listings
• Photo of the property — street view or listing photo
• Neighborhood information — the area and community where the property is located
• Previous sale history — what the property sold for in prior transactions

This information is sourced from public county records, which are technically available to anyone who visits the recorder's office. However, BlockShopper's contribution is making this data instantly searchable online, pairing it with your name, and presenting it in a way that search engines rank highly.

Why BlockShopper Is a Privacy Concern

Many people underestimate the privacy implications of having their real estate transactions published online. Here are the real risks:

• Home address exposure: Anyone who searches your name can find your current home address linked to a recent purchase. This is a significant safety concern for domestic violence survivors, public figures, law enforcement officers, judges, and anyone who wants to maintain residential privacy.
• Financial profiling: The sale price of your home reveals your approximate financial status. Scammers, burglars, and even aggressive salespeople use this information to target homeowners.
• Targeted crime: Publicly linking your name to a specific property and its value makes you a potential target for burglary, mail theft, or social engineering scams.
• Unwanted solicitation: Real estate agents, home improvement companies, insurance salespeople, and mortgage refinance companies scrape BlockShopper data to target new homeowners with aggressive marketing.
• Data permanence: Because BlockShopper posts are indexed by Google and archived by web crawlers, even if you eventually request removal, cached versions of the page may persist in search results for months.

How to Request Removal from BlockShopper

BlockShopper does honor removal requests, although the process requires direct communication rather than an automated opt-out form.

Step 1: Locate Your BlockShopper Listing

• Go to blockshopper.com
• Search for your name or property address
• Find the article about your property transaction
• Copy the URL of the page — you will need this for your removal request

Step 2: Submit a Removal Request

BlockShopper does not have a standard automated opt-out form like many people-search sites. Instead, you need to contact them directly:

• Send an email to BlockShopper's support or editorial team. Look for a contact email on their website, typically found on their "About" or "Contact" page.
• In your email, include:

- Your full name as it appears on the listing

- The URL of the specific BlockShopper page you want removed

- A clear request to remove the article and deindex it from search engines

- Your reason for requesting removal (safety concern, privacy protection, etc.)

• If you are a resident of California, mention your rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to request deletion of your personal information.

Step 3: Follow Up

If you do not receive a response within two weeks, send a follow-up email. You may also try contacting BlockShopper through any social media accounts they maintain. Be persistent but professional in your communications.

Step 4: Request Google Deindexing

Even after BlockShopper removes the page, Google may still show a cached version in search results. To address this:

• Go to Google's Remove Outdated Content tool
• Enter the URL of the removed BlockShopper page
• Submit a request to remove the cached version from search results
• Google typically processes these requests within a few days

The Illinois BIPA Angle

BlockShopper was founded in Chicago and has deep coverage of Illinois real estate transactions. If you are an Illinois resident, you have some of the strongest privacy protections in the country under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and the Illinois Personal Information Protection Act. While BIPA specifically covers biometric data rather than property records, the broader privacy framework in Illinois reflects a legislative environment that takes consumer privacy seriously.

More directly relevant, Illinois has strong common law protections against public disclosure of private facts. While property transactions are technically public records, the way BlockShopper aggregates and republishes this data, linking your name to your address and financial details in a searchable online format, may give you stronger grounds for a removal request under Illinois law than residents of other states.

Real Estate Privacy Beyond BlockShopper

BlockShopper is far from the only site that exposes your property transactions. Similar data appears on:

• County recorder websites — the original source of the public records
• Zillow and Realtor.com — property-focused sites that show transaction history
• People-search sites — Spokeo, BeenVerified, WhitePages, and others incorporate property records into their profiles
• TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch — free people-search sites that display property ownership
• Homemetry, Blockshopper clones — niche real estate data sites

To truly protect your residential privacy, you need to address your data across all of these sources, not just BlockShopper alone.

Steps to Protect Your Property Privacy

Beyond removing your BlockShopper listing, consider these additional measures:

• Use an LLC or trust for property purchases: In many states, you can purchase property through a legal entity rather than in your personal name. This keeps your name out of public records.
• Request address confidentiality: Some states offer Address Confidentiality Programs (ACPs) for domestic violence survivors, stalking victims, and other at-risk individuals.
• Opt out of people-search sites: Remove your information from the major data broker sites that aggregate property records alongside your other personal data.
• Monitor for new listings: Property data is continuously updated as new transactions are recorded. Ongoing monitoring ensures you catch new exposures quickly.

GhostMyData scans 150+ data broker and people-search sites to find where your name, address, and property data are exposed. Our automated removal system handles opt-out requests across the entire data broker ecosystem.

Start your free privacy scan to see everywhere your personal information appears online, including property records on sites like BlockShopper.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I prevent BlockShopper from listing my property sale?

Because BlockShopper pulls from public county records, you cannot prevent the initial listing. However, purchasing property through an LLC or trust can keep your personal name off the public record.

Is it legal for BlockShopper to publish my name and address?

Generally yes. Property transactions are public records in every U.S. state. BlockShopper aggregates and republishes this publicly available information. However, you can still request removal and many states give you the right to do so.

How long does BlockShopper removal take?

There is no guaranteed timeframe since BlockShopper does not have an automated opt-out system. Removal depends on their editorial team responding to your request, which can take one to four weeks.

Will my BlockShopper listing affect my home's security?

It can. Linking your name to your specific address and the value of your home makes you a potential target for crime. This is a legitimate reason to request removal.

Related Reading

• How to Remove Yourself from Spokeo
• How to Remove Yourself from WhitePages
• What Is a Data Broker? Everything You Need to Know
• How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
• Compare Data Removal Services