The internet is one of the most valuable tools ever created. It empowers anyone to find information about any topic or interact with friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances. However, the internet also has significant privacy risks because anything you post might be impossible to take down. Even if you delete the post, chances are someone has archived it for future reference.
Many are understandably wary of having their personal information on the web and seek data removal services. But how do these data removal services work? Are they legitimate, and what are their pros & cons? This guide will tell you what you need to know about these services.
What is a data removal service?
Data removal services are professional services that scour the web for your personal information and remove it. These services help maintain your privacy and reduce the risks of identity theft. They conduct automated and manual searches for your data, such as name, physical address, phone number, and known relatives. Then, they take the relevant steps to delete this data.
The buck doesn’t stop with deletion. Data removal services also monitor the web for the reappearance of your deleted data. If so, they request another deletion. These services charge a one-time or subscription fee, which varies according to the type & volume of data to be removed.
Data removal services have varying levels of effectiveness. Some focus on deleting data from specific sites, e.g., social media, while some focus on removing your information from broader data brokers. They offer significant help, but no removal service is perfect at its job. They can remove as much data as possible, but 100% of your data is not guaranteed to be deleted from the internet.
On your part, be careful what you share online. The rule of thumb is not to publicly post personal information you won’t like written on a newspaper front page. Limit your social media settings and adjust your browser settings for maximum privacy.
How do data removal services work?
Online data removal services follow a simple process:
Consultation
You'll schedule an online meeting with the data removal provider. This consultation helps the provider understand the type and volume of data you want to delete from the web. It also helps the data removal service understand your concerns and how to approach your requested data removal.
Analysis
After the initial consultation, the data removal service begins searching for your data. They conduct thorough searches based on your request. Suppose you request to wipe your personal information from social media sites. In that case, experts comb through popular social media sites for your information: Facebook, Reddit, X (Twitter), Instagram, and many others.
Data removal services employ experts who are skilled and experienced in finding data. They use automated search tools or scour sites manually for your data. If you want to remove your information from people search finder sites like Instant Checkmate and Intelius, an expert will run search queries on these sites to find your information. Any information discovered will be marked for immediate removal, which is another complex process.
Removal
The experts formulate effective strategies to remove your identified data. For example, if you have social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram, they can guide you through the account deletion process. These platforms offer a straightforward way to delete your profile permanently, so that shouldn’t be an issue.
If your data is on a news website or people-finder site, the experts can contact the site administrator to delete your data. Fortunately, most people-finder sites offer an easy way to delete your data.
If there is no straightforward process for deleting the relevant data, the experts can take unusual approaches, such as sending a cease-and-desist letter.
Suppression
Sometimes, it's impossible to completely remove your data from a website. In that case, data removal experts can suppress the data by flooding search engines with new information.
Suppose someone searches for your name, and the first result is an article about a legal dispute. Experts can write new articles mentioning your name to suppress the existing search results. They can also create new social media posts for the same purpose. Hence, when someone searches for your name, they’ll see the new, positive articles instead of the ones you don’t want people to see.
Regular monitoring
The data you delete from a website might reappear later. For example, people-finder sites frequently update their database, and your information could be added anytime despite an earlier deletion.
Hence, data removal services monitor the web to address any new data that reappears. They run automated and manual checks for your information. When detected, they’ll repeat the same steps to remove it from the websites.
You’ll likely need to pay a subscription fee for regular monitoring. It can be a monthly or annual fee separate from the one-time payment for your initial data removal.
Who needs data removal services?
People in sensitive jobs
If you hold a job where secrecy is paramount, a data removal service helps maintain that secrecy. For example, if you work in a national intelligence agency, you’ll not want your personal information lurking online. Something as mundane as your house address or phone number could be traced back to you, so you need a data removal service to delete this information from the web.
Stalking victims
If you’ve fallen victim to stalking, you’ll likely not want your personal information online. A house address or phone number could lead a stalker back to you, but a data removal service helps prevent such a problem. The same applies to victims of abuse– preventing a victimizer from getting your personal information is paramount.
Activists/Journalists
Activists and journalists often encounter stalking and harassment. If you’re in this category, it’s advisable to keep your personal information online to the bare minimum. A data removal service helps you avoid unwanted contact from parties opposed to your work. It prevents doxxing, which can cause considerable harm.
Privacy-conscious people
Even if you don’t fall into the categories mentioned above, you might detest having your personal information online and unauthorized parties profiting from it. Hence, you can hire a data removal service to identify and delete your information from the web. You’ll get peace of mind as a result.
Benefits of data removal services
It increases your online anonymity
The main benefit of a data removal service is that it boosts your online anonymity. You can wipe a lot of information about you from the web, ensuring that stalkers, hackers, or other malicious actors don’t find you easily. Even if you’re unbothered about malicious actors, having your personal information online can feel unsettling. Data removal services let you avoid this issue.
It reduces spam calls and emails
Spam is the most prominent problem on email and telephone networks. Spam constitutes over 40% of emails sent worldwide, and 1 out of 10 calls are spam. Spammers scour the internet for people’s email addresses and phone numbers, so removing your personal information helps you avoid falling victim.
Data removal services thoroughly check the web for your phone numbers, email addresses, and other personal information. Then, they help you remove them, even if it means sending a cease-and-desist letter. Hiring these services reduces the chances of receiving frustrating spam calls and emails.
It saves time and effort
Most people-finder websites provide a straightforward way to opt out of their database. However, dozens of these sites exist, and it’ll take too long to follow each one's opt-out process. Instead, you can enlist a data removal service to handle the process.
Data removal services usually have automated tools to request removal from people-finder sites. Some have formal relationships with the people-finder sites for easy information deletion. Hiring these services saves the time and effort you would otherwise spend opting out of numerous people-finder sites.
Limitations of data removal services
Data removal services go a long way in preserving your online privacy but aren’t perfect. There’s no 100% guarantee of getting your information scrubbed from the internet. The main limitations are:
Jurisdictional regulations
Regulations in your country or state affect the effectiveness of a data removal service. For example, the state of California (in the U.S.) gives consumers significant control over the personal information websites collect about them. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), state residents can opt out of the sale of their personal information and the right to know what data a website has collected about them.
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) grants residents the right to delete personal information an online platform collects about them. Residents are also entitled to know what data a platform has stored about them. It is the most robust data privacy and security law globally.
If your state or country doesn’t have a data privacy law similar to the CCPA or GDPR, it’ll be more difficult for data removal services to delete your information. The experts can always try, but having legal backing increases the chances of success.
Data reappearance
People-finder websites frequently update their databases with new information. Hence, the data you delete today can reappear soon after. These people-finder sites scrape numerous public sources, such as court records, law enforcement records, and real estate deeds. An interaction with a public agency might cause your information to reappear in a database.
Data removal services offer frequent monitoring to mitigate this issue. For a monthly or annual fee, they’ll constantly monitor the public web (or the dark web) for your personal information. Anything that reappears will be subject to another deletion process to preserve your online privacy.
Cost
Data removal services are often expensive, depending on the type and volume of data you want to remove. For example, DeleteMe charges $299 to remove your data from Google Search and $999 to remove data from Doxbin, a prominent leak service on the dark web. Hiring an expert to conduct the search costs an extra $99 on DeleteMe.
Understandably, data removal services perform a lot of work, so charging high prices is expected. However, many individuals can’t afford the high prices and often have to do it themselves.
What are the risks of enlisting a data removal service?
You should be careful when selecting a data removal service, as this industry is rife with dodgy services that charge high prices for little to no work. Extensive research before choosing a removal service is essential. Luckily, you don’t need to stress yourself for this research, as we’ve curated the best data removal services.
We’ve mentioned the risks of incomplete data deletion. No removal service is perfect, so your information may remain or reappear despite the experts following the recommended steps to delete it.
Ironically, hiring a data removal service puts you at risk of data leaks. These services require sensitive personal information so that they'll know what to search for. You'll likely give the data removal service your name, home address, phone number, email address, and social security number (or equivalent identification number). Hence, choosing a trusted data removal service is essential.
We’ve reviewed the most trusted data removal services, such as Optery and Incogni. These services have sophisticated security features to protect your data, such as two-factor authentication, AES-256 encryption, regular internal audits, and robust access control to prevent unauthorized employees from viewing your data.
Hiring a data removal service can be costly yet worthwhile. It has its risks, but it helps preserve your online privacy.
Final Words
Data removal services provide a valuable function. They help preserve your online privacy by deleting personal data from the web. These services aren’t 100% effective, but they go a long way in building online anonymity.
This guide has explained data removal services, how they work, their benefits and limitations, and who needs them the most. If you need better online privacy, see our list of the best data removal services.
You might also like to read about removing yourself from the internet and the truth about data removal services.
