I have been looking into data removal tools like Mozilla Monitor and Incogni, which charge a monthly price to remove your data from data broker sites. According to Mozilla, all they need is your name, bday, and address. I know doing this myself would be more efficient, but I don’t have that much free time on my hands.
I already take source preventative measures like using alternative OSes, always on VPN, using foss/privacy friendly apps and software etc. so all that is really out there is likely to be just government or job related information. If my threat model is simply anti-corporate data harvesting, security against convenience crimes, and basic privacy, how valuable are services like this? Are they worth just paying 1 month for and then cancelling?
If you’re not willing to do it yourself, I’ve heard great things about the two guys at https://easyoptouts.com/. I’ve not used them myself so can’t vouch, but have been listening to FirewallsDontStopDragonsPodcast - and others. They seem to know what they are doing quite well, also at much cheaper price than others at $19.99 per year.
Consumer Reports wrote an article about this topic as well, and they also pointed out this service as the better one. Can read about that here: https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/personal-information/how-to-delete-your-information-from-people-search-sites-a6926856917/
You can try doing it yourself by using the intel techniques workbook instead. Start with the most bang for your buck removals. https://inteltechniques.com/workbook.html
Id say so, nothing’s perfect but they are pretty helpful.
I’m extremely sceptical about any such service. They require your personal information, so they can prove your identity to delete it elsewhere. I get the argument, but this is giving your stuff to yet another organisation.
Not only that.
Imagine the communication between the service provider and the organisation you want your data removed from.
How do you know that the service provider doesn’t provide all your identity data to that organisation to identify you, so they can remove your email address. What’s to stop the organisation creating a record in their private database with all your details, when previously they had just your email address?
Just because your data is visible with a Google search, doesn’t mean that this represents all records pertaining to you. Adding data and sharing it around just exacerbates the issue.
I stay well clear.
It’s tough to get your info truly removed from everywhere after a data breach. I enjoy the peace of mind where if someone searches my name nothing much shows up so I would find that worth the price. Anecdotally I don’t think I’ve gotten as many spam calls but that could just be superstition or timing.
