Some personal information online originates in public registers or directories, including business records and professional or telephone listings. Whether you can remove it depends on the source. Information subject to a legal publication requirement cannot always be erased from the official record. Websites that republish it, including brokers and people search services, must assess requests under their own obligations. Search engines may also consider delisting requests.
What does “public-source data” mean?
This is information made accessible within a legal framework, for example through a business register, property record, professional register, court publication or certain civil status records. The scope of access and publication varies by record.
Where retention or publication is legally required, erasure from the official source may not be available. Corrections, restrictions or non-publication procedures may nevertheless exist for particular records. Information copied by a broker, people search site or search engine is subject to the rules applicable to that separate processing. A public source does not create an unlimited right to reuse personal information.
A free digital footprint scan can help identify where you appear across public websites, brokers and known breaches, including some copies of public information.
What can you remove from directories?
Directories such as Pages Jaunes, Pages Blanches, professional listings and telephone directories may use details supplied by you or by an operator under the relevant framework. You can contact the directory or originating operator through its privacy page, rights form, opt-out process or data protection officer.
Where applicable, GDPR Article 17 provides a right to request erasure, subject to its conditions and exceptions. Organisations normally have one month to respond. A response deadline is not a guarantee that every record will be deleted.
The right to erasure can also apply to data brokers and other websites aggregating register or directory information. Their collection, display and resale must have their own legal basis. The personal data removal guide helps distinguish the information involved, the limitations and the correct recipient.
Removal at source or search engine delisting?
When a website displays information from a register or directory, consider two separate routes:
- Removal from the website holding the copy: contact its controller and explain the applicable erasure grounds. If it removes the information, the page or details may subsequently disappear from search results too.
- Delisting: ask Google or another search engine to stop displaying a link for qualifying searches, commonly those for your name. The original page can remain online. Read the right to be forgotten and Google delisting.
A digital footprint scan helps identify relevant URLs and organisations. Use the report to prioritise which source-removal and search-delisting requests to pursue.
Want to see where your data appears, including copies from registers and directories? Start a free scan, review the report, then choose your removal targets.
See also: Societe.com and Pappers · Pages Blanches and Pages Jaunes · People search removal · Data brokers · GDPR Article 17
