Experian Opt Out: How to Stop Credit Bureau Marketing

An Experian opt out usually means two separate requests. To stop prescreened credit and insurance offers, use OptOutPrescreen.com, which covers Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Innovis at once. To limit how Experian uses and shares your data for other marketing, submit a request through the privacy section of Experian’s official website. Neither request freezes your credit: that’s a separate, free step you take with each bureau.

The same pattern applies at Equifax and TransUnion. Here’s how the pieces fit together.

How credit bureaus use your data for marketing

The credit bureaus are best known for credit reports, but they also run data and marketing businesses. Your data can reach marketers through a few different routes:

• Prescreened offers: lenders and insurers pay the bureaus for lists of people whose credit files meet their criteria. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows this and gives you the right to opt out.
• Marketing data products: the bureaus’ marketing divisions compile consumer and household data, such as demographics and inferred interests, and license it to advertisers for mail, email and online ad targeting. This isn’t credit report data, and it’s governed by the company’s privacy practices and state privacy laws rather than the FCRA’s prescreening rules.
• Their own consumer products: if you’ve signed up for a free credit score or monitoring account, you’ll get marketing emails and offers from the bureau itself.

Each route has its own off switch, which is why one opt-out rarely makes the mail stop.

The three opt-outs, and how they differ from a freeze

Tool	What it stops	What it doesn’t do	Where
Prescreen opt-out	Your name on prescreened credit and insurance lists	Stop non-credit marketing or protect against fraud	OptOutPrescreen.com, once for all participating bureaus
Marketing data opt-out	The bureau’s marketing business using or sharing your data for advertising	Affect prescreened offers or your credit file	Each bureau’s privacy page
Account marketing preferences	Emails and offers from the bureau’s own consumer products	Anything outside that account	Your account settings or unsubscribe links
Security freeze	Most new creditors from pulling your credit report	Stop marketing	Each bureau separately, free

The confusion usually runs one way: people opt out of marketing and assume they’re protected from identity theft. They aren’t. A freeze is the tool for that, and it’s free at the nationwide bureaus under federal law.

How to opt out of Experian marketing, step by step

1. Stop prescreened offers. Type optoutprescreen.com into your browser. Choose the five-year electronic opt-out, or the permanent opt-out, which requires mailing a signed form the site generates. Our OptOutPrescreen guide covers the details.
2. Find Experian’s privacy page. Go to experian.com directly and follow the privacy link, usually in the footer. Look for the US consumer privacy section and wording like “your privacy choices” or “do not sell or share my personal information”.
3. Submit a marketing opt-out. Choose the option to opt out of Experian’s marketing use or sale and sharing of your data. Give your name, current and past addresses, and email addresses, since marketing data is matched on these.
4. Consider access or deletion. If your state gives you the right, you can also ask to see or delete personal information. Expect identity verification, and expect exceptions for data regulated by the FCRA.
5. Change your account preferences. If you have an Experian account, turn off marketing emails in its settings, or close the account if you don’t use it.
6. Save confirmations. Note dates and reference numbers for each request.

Equifax and TransUnion

Both follow the same structure as Experian:

• Prescreened offers: covered by your OptOutPrescreen request.
• Marketing and data sharing: each publishes privacy choices on its official site, including options for residents of states with privacy laws. Start from equifax.com or transunion.com and follow the privacy link.
• Accounts: if you’ve created a free account with either, adjust its marketing settings separately.
• Freezes: placed and lifted separately at each bureau.

If you want complete coverage, Innovis, the smaller fourth bureau, also offers free freezes. Our Innovis opt-out guide explains how.

Should you freeze your credit as well?

For most people, yes, if you aren’t planning to apply for credit soon. A freeze is free, doesn’t affect your credit score, and can be lifted temporarily when you need a loan or card. It’s the single most effective step against new-account fraud.

A fraud alert is a lighter option. It asks lenders to verify your identity before opening credit, and you place it with one of the three nationwide bureaus, which passes it to the other two. An initial alert lasts one year, and identity theft victims can place an extended alert that lasts seven years.

Our guide on how to prevent identity theft covers freezes and alerts step by step.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real client.

Gordon, a retiree, notices his mail is mostly credit card offers and insurance solicitations. His daughter worries about scams and asks him to “opt out of Experian”.

1. They start at OptOutPrescreen and choose the permanent opt-out, mailing the signed form.
2. They visit the privacy pages of Experian, Equifax and TransUnion and submit marketing opt-outs listing his current address and the house he sold several years ago.
3. Because he isn’t planning to borrow, they place free security freezes at all three bureaus and at Innovis, and store the PINs and logins in a safe place.
4. They register with DMAchoice and the National Do Not Call Registry for the non-credit marketing, and ask his bank to stop sending him card promotions.

Gordon’s prescreened offers dwindle over the following months, and the freezes mean a scammer with his details would struggle to open new credit.

What to expect after you opt out

Opt-outs work on lists that haven’t been pulled yet, so results build gradually rather than overnight.

• Prescreened offers usually taper off over the following weeks and months as lists pulled before your request run out.
• Marketing data opt-outs stop the bureau using or sharing your data going forward, but companies that already licensed it may keep using their copy for a while.
• State law requests for access or deletion come with response deadlines set by each state’s law, commonly around 45 days with a possible extension.
• Your own bank and card issuers can keep marketing to you based on your relationship with them. Change your preferences with each one directly.

If an offer still arrives months later, check who sent it and on what basis. Prescreened offers must include a notice explaining that you can opt out, which tells you it came from a credit bureau list. Anything without that notice is coming from somewhere else.

Free tools for the rest of your marketing mail and calls

• DMAchoice: run by the Association of National Advertisers, it reduces mail from companies that use its preference lists.
• National Do Not Call Registry: run by the FTC, it reduces telemarketing calls from legitimate companies.
• Data broker opt-outs: brokers such as Acxiom compile similar marketing data, with their own request forms. See our Acxiom opt-out guide.
• Retailer and bank preferences: companies you buy from can keep contacting you until you change your settings with them.

Common mistakes

• Thinking one opt-out covers everything. Prescreening, marketing data and account emails are separate.
• Confusing an opt-out with a freeze. Marketing opt-outs offer no fraud protection.
• Using paid “opt-out” services for free tools. Every step here is free through official channels.
• Forgetting old addresses. Marketing records match on past addresses too.
• Losing freeze credentials. Keep them where you can find them.

Beyond the credit bureaus

The bureaus are only part of the marketing data trade. Brokers such as Acxiom hold similar data, and our data broker opt-out list covers the main ones. California residents can also use the state’s Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) to reach registered data brokers in one request, and residents of a growing number of states can send “do not sell or share” requests.

If your concern is what appears when someone searches your name, rather than your mailbox, see our content removal service. We’ll tell you honestly what can be removed and what you can do yourself.

Frequently asked questions

How do I stop Experian from selling my information?

Use OptOutPrescreen to stop prescreened offers, then submit a marketing or “do not sell or share” request through the privacy section of Experian’s official website. Residents of states with privacy laws may also be able to request deletion, subject to exceptions.

Does opting out of Experian hurt my credit?

No. Marketing and prescreen opt-outs don’t affect your credit score, your credit report, or your ability to apply for credit.

Is opting out the same as freezing my credit?

No. Opting out limits marketing. A security freeze blocks most new creditors from seeing your report, which protects against accounts being opened in your name. You can do both.

Can I delete my Experian credit report?

No. Credit reporting is allowed under the FCRA, so you can’t opt out of having a credit file. You can get free copies, dispute errors, and freeze access to it.