Updated Top Ten Opt Outs for 2017 & 10 year anniversary of Top Ten Opt Outs

Our Top Ten Opt Outs is one of our most popular consumer guides. In it, you can see a short list of the most important privacy opt outs available to you today; we’ve curated the opt-outs and made things simple so you don’t have to wander through a list of hundreds of choices. We’re pleased to announce that we’ve completed our annual update of the opt outs, and the freshly updated guide is ready for your perusal.

We published the first version of our Top Ten Opt Outs in 2007 after receiving numerous questions about what opt outs were our personal favorites. It’s hard to believe 10 years has passed. The good news is that opt outs have, for the most part, gotten better.

One of the questions we still receive is: “If you had to choose only one opt out, which would you choose?” Well, it depends. The education opt out (FERPA, Opt out #7) is incredibly important for current students, and the financial services opt outs (Opt out #4) are important, especially for anyone using a banks or credit card company that shares information. Data broker opt outs (Opt out #8) are important for pretty much everyone. Your favorite choices for opt out are unique to you, and may vary by year or circumstance.

So, please peruse these important opt outs, and send us a question if you have one, or a suggestion for opt outs to include in the future.

See the 2017 Top Ten Opt Outs list