How to Shield Your Home Address on the KvK (Netherlands, 2026)

In the Netherlands, registering a business means registering an address — and for sole proprietors (eenmanszaken), that address is very often your home. The KvK (Kamer van Koophandel) Handelsregister has historically made that visiting address publicly searchable and even sold register data to third parties, including address resellers. The result: freelancers, consultants, and one-person shops end up with their home address circulating online. This guide explains how to shield it, who qualifies, and the one limitation you need to plan around.

Why Your Home Address Is Public

Every Dutch business must register in the KvK Handelsregister. For a sole proprietorship, the visiting address (bezoekadres) defaults to wherever you operate from, which for most freelancers is their home. KvK has historically:

• Published that visiting address in the public register, and
• Sold register data to third parties, including marketing and address resellers.

So the exposure is not a leak — it is the register working as designed. The fix is to use the register's own shielding mechanism.

Step 1: Shield Your KvK Visiting Address ("Afschermen")

Sole proprietors can always shield their visiting address. You do not need to prove a threat — it is an automatic right for eenmanszaken.

1. Go to KvK's "shield your business address" service (kvk.nl, under the Business Register / Handelsregister section).
2. Request shielding ("afschermen") of your visiting address.
3. Provide a separate public postal address (correspondentieadres) instead — this is required. It can be a PO box, a virtual office, or another non-residential address. KvK will not leave you with no public address at all; it swaps the home address for the one you supply.

For other entity types (BV, foundations, etc.), shielding is generally only available where there is a proven threat. Officials' home addresses are protected by default. The bookkeeper-of-record, if a natural person, may remain an exception.

Step 2: Request BRP Confidentiality ("Geheimhouding")

The KvK is only one register. Your municipality also holds your details in the BRP (Basisregistratie Personen), the residents' database.

• You cannot opt out of the BRP — your gemeente is legally required to register you.
• But you can request "geheimhouding" (confidentiality), which stops the municipality from sharing your data with non-obligated third parties such as churches, sports clubs, and other non-government organisations.
• Government bodies legally entitled to the data still receive it.

Request geheimhouding through your gemeente (most offer it online via DigiD). Residents in shelters or at risk get additional protection.

Step 3: Clean Up Data Already Copied (the limitation to plan around)

Here is the catch nobody warns you about: shielding at the KvK stops new disclosure, but it does not undo data already copied by online brokers and directories before you shielded. If a reseller pulled your address last year, shielding now does nothing to that copy.

To deal with the copies:

• Send GDPR objection (Article 21) and erasure (Article 17) requests to any broker or directory still showing your address. The marketing objection is absolute.
• Controllers have one month to respond.
• If ignored, file a complaint with the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), the Dutch DPA.

Remember too that since 2021, telemarketing in the Netherlands is opt-in only — companies may not cold-call consumers who have not agreed to be contacted, so unsolicited sales calls are themselves reportable.

Don't Forget the US Brokers

Dutch residents are also indexed by US people-search brokers — Whitepages, Spokeo, BeenVerified, and the rest — which resell name, address, and relatives data regardless of where you live. KvK shielding and BRP geheimhouding close the Dutch registry feeds; they do nothing about the US broker layer.

OfflistMe handles that layer: one flat payment, no subscription, generating opt-out requests across 500+ US data brokers from your own verified inbox. Pair it with the Dutch steps above to close both feeds at once.

For your full Dutch rights, the regulator, and every public-record source that feeds brokers, see the Netherlands data removal guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

My home address is public on the KvK — can I hide it?

Yes. Sole proprietors can always shield their visiting address in the Business Register, provided they supply a separate public postal address instead. Other organisations can shield only where there is a proven threat, and officials' home addresses are protected by default.

Does KvK shielding remove my address from Google and broker sites?

No. Shielding stops new disclosure from the register, but it does not undo data already copied by online brokers and directories. Use GDPR erasure and objection requests to clean up existing copies.

Can I opt out of the BRP residents' database?

No — your municipality is legally required to register you. But you can request "geheimhouding" (confidentiality) so your data is not shared with certain third parties such as churches and non-government organisations.

Is telemarketing allowed in the Netherlands?

Only with prior opt-in consent. Rules tightened in 2021 replaced the old opt-out "Bel-me-niet" register, so companies may no longer cold-call consumers who have not agreed to be contacted.