Intuit calls its launch of QB Business Network “exciting”, but I call it an invasion of privacy. Can I opt out before it’s live?

It's good to see you here in the Community, @tanksonfire.

I'm here to help turn off the Business Network feature in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

You can only opt-out Business Network feature once it's live. To do so, you can navigate to the Account and Settings page to opt-out of the QuickBooks Business Network.

As always, you can visit our QuickBooks Community help website if you need tips and related articles in the future.

Our doors are always open to help you again if you have follow-up questions about this matter. Have a pleasant day ahead, @tanksonfire.

As far as I can tell, it isn’t live yet.

I hate this sort of thing: we are obligated to tell our users, but if we notify them and leave the date open-ended so that they have to keep checking back to stop their privacy from being violated, they’ll eventually forget about it and forget to turn it off. It’s a sleazy tactic, and it further degrades my opinion of QuickBooks as a product and Intuit as a developer.

It's now live but I do not see a setting available anywhere in Account and Settings that will allow me to turn it off. Do you have any additional information about deactivation of this feature, @Mark_R?

Thanks for getting back here, @tanksonfire. I have troubleshooting steps to help you turn off the Business Network feature in QuickBooks Online. 

I want to ensure you can turn off the feature without a moment's delay. 

Since the feature is now live, you should be able to turn it off in the Account and Settings. It sounds like your server was interrupted or corrupted. Sometimes, too much cache build-up in your regular browser can cause unexpected behavior in the product. I'd suggest pressing the F5 on your keyboard to refresh the connection. Then log in and out if necessary. 

If the issue continues, I'd recommend logging your account through incognito. This way, we can check if it's a browser-related issue. Refer to the keyboard shortcuts below: 

• Ctrl + Shift + N (Google Chrome)
• Ctrl + Shift + P (Firefox)
•  Control + Option + P (Safari)
•  Ctrl + Shift + P (Microsoft Edge)

Once logged in, go back to the Account and Setting, then choose Advanced. If you can turn it off, return to your regular browser and press the CTRL+ Shift and Delete keys on the keyboard to clear the cache. 

If the problem persists, I'd advise contacting our Customer Care Team. They may have the option to turn it off on their end or further investigate the issue. 

Here's how: 

1. Go to the Help menu, then click Contact Us.
2. Type your concern in the box and tap Let's talk.
3. Choose either Get a call or Start a chat.
4. Complete the required data and submit the request.

Make sure to contact them within business hours to ensure a swift response.

For future reference, visit this article to discover what QuickBooks Online's new functionality is: What’s new in QuickBooks. 

I'm always ready to help you if you need help learning the ropes in QuickBooks. Feel free to leave a message below, and I'll get you back, tanksonfire.

I turned off the Business Network so no one can find me.

But it is annoying to have field populated with the wrong information. Either way, I don't want to use this feature.

How do I turn off finding other businesses?

Hello Sunwardh. Thanks for chiming in on this thread. It's important to note that once you've turned off the Business Network feature you'll still be able to search and connect with other business. I can see the benefit of being able to turn off this feature and I encourage you to send feedback about this to our engineers. You can send feedback by clicking on the Gear icon and looking for Feedback. In the meantime, feel free to ask other questions. I'm here to help.