Registered Agent Privacy: What Becomes Public?
Most new entrepreneurs assume their business filings are kept in a secret government vault. In reality, state business registries are fully public, easily searchable online databases. Here is exactly what the world can see about your LLC.
Quick Answer
When you form an LLC, the state publishes the Name and Address of your Registered Agent on the internet for anyone to see. If you act as your own agent, your personal name and home address become permanent public records. To prevent this, you must hire a commercial Registered Agent service.
Key Points for 2026
- Permanent Record: Once your address is on the public record, it is almost impossible to scrub it from the internet, even if you change it later.
- The Scrape: Data brokers use bots to scrape state registries daily, selling your address to spammers and marketers.
- The State Factor: Some states (like Florida) require the names of the LLC owners to be public in addition to the Registered Agent.
Exactly What Information is Public?
If you go to your state's Secretary of State website (e.g., Sunbiz in Florida or the SOS portal in Wyoming), you can search for any LLC name. The resulting page will display:
- The LLC's legal name and formation date.
- The Principal Office Address.
- The Registered Agent's Name.
- The Registered Agent's Physical Street Address.
- (Depending on the state) The names and addresses of the Members or Managers.
There is no "Privacy Shield" add-on you can buy from the state to hide your registered agent. The only legal way to keep your name and home address off that specific line of the form is to hire someone else (a commercial agent) to put their name and address on the form instead.
How Commercial Agents Protect Your Privacy
When you hire a company like Northwest Registered Agent or ZenBusiness to be your agent, you pay them $50 to $150 a year. In exchange, when you fill out your Articles of Organization, you write "Northwest Registered Agent LLC" in the agent name box, and you write their commercial office address in the address box.
When a data broker scrapes the state database, they just find the commercial agent's address. When a spammer sends a fake invoice, it goes to the commercial agent's shredder. Your home address remains completely off the internet.
The "Anonymous LLC" States
If you want ultimate privacy, hiding your Registered Agent is only step one. Step two is hiding the Members (owners).
Only four states allow you to form a truly "Anonymous LLC" where the state does not ask for the Members' names: Wyoming, New Mexico, Delaware, and Nevada.
If you form a Wyoming LLC and hire a commercial registered agent, the only human name on the entire public record is the person working at the registered agent's office. Your identity is legally invisible to the public.
What to Do Next
- Never use your home address: If you haven't formed your LLC yet, do not list your home address as the agent.
- Form in a privacy state: If you run an online business, consider forming an Anonymous LLC in Wyoming or New Mexico.
- Change your agent: If you already used your home address, file an amendment to change your agent immediately to stop future scraping.