Under each of these headings you can find information on how to opt out of various types of information tracking. Please remember that the process of opting out is often difficult and complicated. Companies don't want to make it easy for you to stop receiving advertisements.

Telemarketers

First, head to donotcall.gov. There you can put your phone number on the national do not call list. After that, remember what to do when a telemarketer calls. Ask them to not only remove you from their call list, but to place you on their do not call list. Tell them not to share, trade, sell, or distribute your information with any affiliates, companies, or third parties.

Junk Mail

To get rid of credit card solicitations, visit optoutprescreen.com. Next, to stop receiving catalogs in the mail, create an account at dmachoice.org. You can also try catalogchoice.org, although some of its services require making a donation. When you receive junk mail, you can call or mail the senders back. Ask them to remove you from their mailing lists and place you on their do not mail list. Tell them not to share, trade, sell, or distribute your information with any affiliates, companies, or third parties.

Online Tracking

Many websites track you or keep data about you. In some instances, they use this data for behavioral advertising. In other words, if they realize that you are interested in cars, then you will see more online ads about cars. Use these sites to opt-out of online tracking: aboutads.info, privacychoice.org, networkadvertising.org, google.com/ads, omniture.com, rapleaf.com, and youronlinechoices.com.

Some of these sites use cookies which are stored on individual computers. This means you have to opt-out every time you switch to a new computer.

FERPA

Most college students don't realize that, upon request from a third party, universities can divulge "directory information" about a student without their prior consent. This includes students' names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, photographs and ages. You can request that your university let you opt-out of this. If they ever wanted to provide a third party with information about you they would have to contact you first for consent. Here is an example of College of Charleston's FERPA site as well as their FERPA opt-out form (pdf).

By Company

These are a variety of companies that allow you to opt-out online. There are certainly many more, but we can't include them all here. If something you're looking for isn't here, try googling the name of the company and the phrase opt-out. For example, if you google "opt-out geico" (quotes not included), your first hit will be for Geico's opt-out of marketing site. If you google "att opt-out" (quotes not included), the first result is for AT&T's customer opt-out site.

Other Tips

1. Check the privacy policies of all sites and companies you interact with. Many detail their opt-out policies.
2. If you still receive a lot of unwanted email, look for unsubscribe buttons at the bottom of emails.
3. The online information brokers list provides links to many sites that track information about you. You can use their site to opt-out.