The 3 Best Data Removal Services of 2024
To increase your privacy online, invest in automated data removal like Incogni. Here are our three favorite services after weeks of testing.
- Detailed, easy-to-use UI
- Affordable price point
- Starts to work almost immediately
- Removes data from over 300 sites
- Transparent data policy
- Great customer service
- Custom removal requests
- Easy to navigate
- Multiple subscription options
Editor’s Note: Incogni is the best data removal service based on our extensive testing. Incogni starts at $12.98 per month, and it immediately starts to remove your personal data from the internet.
If you’ve ever Googled your own name, you were likely a little startled by how much information data brokers and people-finder sites have on you. Personal information like your name, address, and phone number are all out there for anyone to see.
I want to keep as much of this data out of the public eye as possible, and I’m sure you feel the same way. That’s why I spent months testing out a variety of automated data removal services; I was trying to find out how effective they were at removing my identifiable information and increasing my privacy online.
After hours and hours of rigorous testing, these three services came out on top:
Comparison of the Best Data Removal Services
System |
Incogni
|
Kanary
|
Optery
|
---|---|---|---|
Ranking | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
Ratings | 9.2/10 | 8.4/10 | 8.8/10 |
Site Removals | 180+ | 300+ | 100-300 |
Price Per Month | $12.98 | $16.99 | $3.99-$24.99 |
Free Plan? | No | Yes* | Yes** |
Family Plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Works Outside U.S.? | Yes | No | Business Customers Only |
Read Review | Incogni Review | Kanary Review | Optery Review |
* Only generates reports and automates three removals
** Only generates reports
The Best Data Removal Services We Tested
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1. Incogni - Fastest Results
Product Specs
Site Removals 180+ Free Plan No Family Plan Yes Monthly Cost $12.98 What We Like
- Works in countries outside the U.S.
- Detailed dashboard provides meaningful insights
- Affordable price point
- Very user friendly
- Great reputation
What We Don’t Like
- Only removes data from 180 sites
- No free plan
- Limited resources available
Why I Picked Incogni
I tested quite a few data removal services in my quest to scrub the internet of my personal information; during that trial, Incogni was my favorite service. It’s well rounded in the sense that it works quickly and its price point is affordable; plus, its user interface is so easy even your least tech-savvy family member can use it.
Another interesting piece of information is that Incogni was developed by one of the best VPN providers in the business, Surfshark, as an add-on service. Due to its success, another well-known name in the privacy game, NordVPN, started offering it as a supplement as well. That gave me confidence going into my Incogni review that I was going to like what I found.
User Experience
Purchasing and setting up Incogni couldn’t be easier. Once you select a plan, you’re asked to set up an account and digitally sign some paperwork; the latter allows Incogni to act as a proxy on your behalf. Once that’s done, all you have to do is click “Start Data Removal,” and you’re off to the races.
We’ll talk about how effective Incogni is below, but I also wanted to point out how easy to use — and useful — its dashboard is. If you go into the detailed view of the records the service found on you, you can get a clear picture of the company that’s selling your information; plus, you can see how long the average request for removal takes and Incogni’s threat assessment of said company. Out of all of the services I’ve tested, this is by far the most detailed breakdown I’ve seen.
With that in mind, let’s talk about how effective Incogni was at making these sites delete my data.
Effectiveness
Right off the bat, Incogni found 79 files containing my personal information and got to work removing them. After the first week, it tracked down 129 files and removed 100. By the end of my test period, 101 total files were completed; also, Incogni suppressed 29, meaning that those companies would not collect or publish any more data about me. That’s a feature I’ve found missing from other services.
Now, there’s something to note about how Incogni keeps score: If they reach out to a site that is likely to have information on you and the company says they don’t have a file, Incogni counts that as “complete.” While some might argue that that pads the numbers a little, I’d say it’s the service being thorough. You might consider it semantics, but it’s definitely worth pointing out.
Price
One of the biggest considerations of any service is, of course, the price. Luckily, Incogni is keeping that figure pretty low at just $13 if you pay month to month. If you sign up for a year, though, that price nosedives to $6.49; this basically cuts your costs in half. Here’s the breakdown:
Plan Monthly Cost Annual Cost Total Savings Monthly Plan $12.98 $155.76 N/A Annual Plan $6.49 $77.88 50% If you’re interested in removing your data from sites, preventing its regathering, and removing new files as they pop up, I’d definitely recommend signing up for an annual subscription. It will save you money in the long run; plus, since most of these companies have up to 45 days to respond to removal requests, you need to keep the service running for a few months to see significant results. It’s something to consider.
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2. Kanary - Biggest Reach
Product Specs
Site Removals 300+ Free Plan Yes Family Plan Yes Monthly Cost $16.99 What We Like
- Transparent data policy
- Removes entries from more than 300 sites
- Easy-to-use dashboard
- Great customer service
- Excellent online reputation
What We Don’t Like
- Some advanced functions are a little difficult to access
- Could use a tutorial to get new users up to speed
- Some file removals take a lot of time and require customer input
Why I Picked Kanary
There’s no telling how far-flung your personal information is on the internet; this is why I like that Kanary checks against a database of over 1,000 different data brokers and people-finder sites. It can be difficult to remove yourself from sites like LexisNexis, Truthfinder, and Radaris, but Kanary handles them with ease.
User Experience
When I put Kanary to the test, I was excited with what I found. They start you off with a free initial scan — more on that in the pricing section — so you can see what the service initially finds on you. In my case, Kanary located 20 exposures and got to work deleting them. When you compare Incogni to Kanary, you can see that the way the two services tally up these exposures and completions makes a pretty big difference.
Before we talk about how effective Kanary is at removing these exposures, though, I did want to point out how transparent this service is. I appreciated that Kanary is up-front about the data they collect on you — spoiler alert, it’s not much — how they store it, and how they handle a subscription cancellation. It’s clear this service cares about their customers’ privacy, which I really appreciate.
Effectiveness
Kanary scans over 300 different data brokers and people-finder sites for your information; this makes them one of the most comprehensive services. After about a month of testing, I’ll say that Kanary is effective at removing their customer’s information. However, you need to be patient.
After two weeks, Kanary had only removed six profiles for me. Keep in mind what I said above, though: A lot of these sites have up to 45 days to comply with deletion requests, so it takes some time to see meaningful results. About a month and a half into using the service, eight profiles had been removed. My exposures over time were trending down, and my removals over time were trending up. This is exactly what you want to see while keeping in mind that it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Price
Kanary keeps things pretty simple when it comes to their pricing. You can purchase a monthly plan for $16.99, or you can pay $179.88 annually. For those of you who don’t have a calculator handy, the annual price breaks down to $14.99 monthly — or two bucks a month in savings. They’re a little more expensive than Incogni, but not significantly so.
The last thing to keep in mind with Kanary is that they offer a “free” plan, but that only serves to get your foot in the door. With this plan they’ll scan for your information, tell you how many exposures you have, and set three removals into motion for you. After 14 days, you’ll have to upgrade to the premium service to keep things going, which, as I said above, is important. If you want to see meaningful results from any of these services, you need to use them for at least a few months.
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3. Optery - Most Flexible
Product Specs
Site Removals 100-300 Free Plan Yes Family Plan Yes Monthly Cost $3.99-$24.99 Why I Picked Optery
The majority of data removal services that I tested only offered one tier of service — meaning if it was out of budget, you were out of luck. More on this in the pricing section. However, when I reviewed Optery, I was pleased to find that they offer flexible subscription options; this makes it easier to tailor things to your individual needs.
User Experience
At the end of the day, I’d say that Optery is one of the better services for staying anonymous on the internet. Its Ultimate plan deals with a comparable number of sites to Kanary, and it’s effective at what it does. I also like that Optery doesn’t automate everything; at the Extended and Ultimate levels of service, they bring in human privacy agents for QA with removal reports and screenshots of your data disappearing every 90 days.
They also offer a unique feature that allows users to request custom removals. If you find your information on a people-finder or data brokerage site that isn’t in Optery’s database, you can request them to manually remove it. That’s interesting functionality, and it allows for a lot of flexibility.
Effectiveness
Optery is similar to Incogni in the sense that it works quickly — checking and tallying every site in its database for your information. If you aren’t found on a likely site, though, that’s counted as a removal. After I set up the service, I checked back 14 hours later and found that 180 removals were in progress, with 146 completed. These are impressive numbers, no doubt, but things did slow down after that initial bump.
Price
Like I said above, Optery is one of the very few data removal services that offers multiple tiers of service. Here’s a breakdown of what that looks like:
Feature Core Extended Ultimate Number of sites your data is removed from 108 sites 228 sites 333 sites Custom removal requests No No Yes Cost $3.99 per month $14.99 per month $24.99 per month It’s also worth pointing out that Optery is similar to Kanary in the sense that it also offers a “free” version; however, all you get with it is a report of your exposures. If you want to actually remove anything, you’ll need a paid account.
Editor’s Note: There was another service I tested that almost made this list. Read my review of Deleteme to learn more. Or, you can see how it compares to the services listed here:
How I Tested These Data Removal Services
All of my reviews start with in-depth research. I spend hours pouring over companies’ claims, reading reviews, and checking out customer testimonials. I read reviews on consumer reporting sites; this gives me a feel for what a service does well and where some friction points might be.
Then I put them to the test myself. I personally purchased every service on this list and used them each for over a month. I learned firsthand exactly how they worked, what they did well, and what their shortcomings were. Once I was satisfied that I’d experienced all they had to offer, I compared them head to head to see which one came out on top.
Who Needs Data Removal Services?
Having your personal information all in one place makes it a lot easier for identity thieves to start targeting you. That’s reason enough to want your information removed. You could spend hours and hours (and hours and hours) trying to manually opt out, or you can leverage technology to do it for you. In fact, Incogni even estimates how much time you’ve saved by using their service. Last time I checked, my counter was in the hundreds of hours.
These services can also do more than protect you from identity theft: They can keep you safe in real life, too. You might have a disgruntled ex or estranged family member who would love to get your new phone number, figure out where you work, or even show up at your home. The sobering reality is that the less information people can find about you these days, the better.
Do Data Removal Services Really Work?
The short answer is yes, but the long answer is more nuanced. Data removal services work to enhance a very specific type of digital privacy; that is, they automate the removal requests you’d need to fill out and send in yourself to have your personal information deleted from sites like whitepages.com.
That said, they do nothing to protect you from other digital threats like malware, hackers, or scammers. For those, you’re going to need top antivirus software or maybe even invest in a high-quality VPN. Remember, digital security is a multifaceted exercise; you’ll need a lot of tools in your belt to stay safe online.
Recap
Data removal services can do a lot for your digital privacy. When I started testing these services, I thought my digital privacy was solid. But then I saw the amount of sites showcasing my personal details through the free trials on Kanary and Optery. And while all three services took a bit to get going, they all continuously got my data off of data brokers and people-finder sites consistently.
So, if you want to step up your digital privacy, a data removal service is a great starting point. Just remember that they can take some time before they show any major results.
FAQs About Data Removal Services
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Are data removal services safe?
As long as you are using a reputable service like the ones on this list, yes. Such data removal services are perfectly safe to use; plus, they could actually increase your physical and digital safety overall.
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How long does it take for data removal services to work?
Most data brokers and people-finder sites have up to 45 days to comply with deletion requests, but sometimes these deadlines are ignored. If you want to see meaningful results, you should expect to use a data removal service for at least three months.
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Will a data removal service take care of an unflattering news story?
No, automated data removal sites only deal with people-finder sites and data brokerages. If you want an unflattering news story removed, you’ll have to contact the news site itself — or you might need the help of a lawyer, depending on the situation.
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Will data removal services work for social media posts?
No, data removal services do not have access to any social media accounts. If you are being bullied or harassed on social media, contact the site administrators directly.
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How much are data removal services?
Most data removal services charge monthly or annually. Depending on your subscription duration, you should expect to pay between $5 and $25 per month.