Best data removal services in 2024

Did you know that your personal data is freely available online? Yes, without your consent, data brokers have compiled a database with your full name, address, phone number, email address, browsing history, and other details. If this information falls into the wrong hands, you can become the target of identity theft, PayPal scams, spam emails and calls, and other criminal schemes.

While you can try to have this data scrubbed from the Internet, doing so requires an unreasonable amount of time. You’d have to contact each data broker individually and hope that they’ll accommodate your request. Fortunately, data removal services exist to make this process convenient.

In this article, I evaluate and rank the best data removal services in 2024 so you can protect your privacy. Keep reading to find out how different data removal services performed in my tests.

The top 5 data removal services - shortlist

1. Incogni – the overall best data removal service
2. Aura – the best identity theft service with data removal
3. Onerep – the best family data removal service
4. DeleteMe – covers the largest number of data broker sites
5. Optery – offers free data exposure reports

What to consider when choosing a data removal service?

When choosing a data removal service, it’s important to match its features with your needs. I recommend paying close attention to the following features:

• How many data broker sites does it send removal requests to: You want a data removal service that can cast a wide net so you get the most value for your money.
• An easy-to-use and informative interface: During my testing, I realized how important a well-designed dashboard contributes to user experience. Having accurate, real-time, and well-presented data was extremely helpful when reviewing my data removal requests.
• An affordable subscription rate: Data removal isn’t a one-time thing. Since data brokers can reacquire your data in the future, getting a subscription you can comfortably maintain is important so the service continues to monitor for potential privacy breaches.

The best data removal services – detailed review

I thoroughly tested several data removal services, assessing their price, effectiveness, user-friendliness, and general performance. Below are the 5 services that made my list.

1. Incogni: the best data removal service in 2024

Number of data broker sites covered:	180+
Starting price:	$7.49/month
Free trial:	No (but there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee)

Visit Incogni

Incogni is the best data removal service, in my opinion. I found it to be well-rounded and reliable during my tests. It offers great value for money and is developed by trusted VPN provider Surfshark. Its user-friendliness is also a big advantage, making it a great pick for less tech-savvy users.

Effectiveness – how does Incogni remove your data from brokers’ databases?

Incogni removes your data from the Internet by contacting 180+ data brokers on your behalf, citing the GDPR, CCPD, PIPEDA, and other privacy laws to enforce its request. What sets Incogni apart is that it is available internationally, while many data brokers are only available in the US. Incogni services are available in the US, the UK, Canada, and Europe.

During my tests, Incogni was able to get 8 data brokers to remove my data within just a few weeks of signing up. This was done virtually with no input from my end (aside from signing up for an account), proving that Incogni is a good pick if you want an effective solution and a stress-free experience.

Note: Some data brokers may attempt to bypass Incogni’s data removal efforts by emailing you directly. Simply forward these emails to Incogni.

User-friendliness – how easy-to-use is Incogni?

Setting up Incogni was quick and straightforward. All you need to do is choose a plan, sign up with your email address, provide your personal details, and fill out an authorization form (authorizing Incogni to act on your behalf). Once you’re done, click “Start Data Removal,” and that’s it!

Note: You can add up to 3 email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses to your Incogni account.

After signing up, you’ll be redirected to a dashboard that displays all the data requests Incogni has processed. My data removal requests were marked as Completed, In progress, Rejected, or Not started. I appreciate this level of transparency, as it is exactly what I expect from a data removal service.

I also love how detailed Incogni’s reports are. When I clicked on the detailed view of a certain record, I could view information about each data broker, such as the average time it takes to remove data from the broker and Incogni’s threat assessment of that data broker.

One of the biggest issues with manually sending out data removal requests is that brokers often re-add your information to their databases. And you have to go through the hassle of contacting them and asking for your information to be deleted. So, I was thrilled to find that Incogni continuously scans people search sites and broker’s databases for your information and sends out data removal requests, ensuring your personal information is always protected.

Pricing – how much does Incogni cost?

The table below shows an overview of Incogni’s pricing:

Plan	Price of annual plan	Seats
Individual	$7.49/month	1 person
Family and friends	$16.49/month	Up to 5 people

Incogni offers 2 plans, which you can pay for on either a monthly or yearly basis. You can get a discount on your subscription if you opt for the annual plan instead of the monthly plan. To save money, you can partner with relatives or friends and get Incogni’s Family & Friends plan, which covers up to 5 people.

2. Aura: best protection against identity theft

Number of data broker sites covered:	20+
Starting price:	$9.00/month
Free trial:	Yes (14-day free trial with a 60-day money-back guarantee)

Visit Aura Identity Theft Protection

Aura has a robust suite of features to protect you from identity theft. Since Aura is primarily an identity theft protection service, its features can be overkill if you’re only looking for a data removal solution. However, if you want more features than Incogni offers, then Aura is a great pick.

Effectiveness – how does Aura remove your data from brokers’ databases?

Like Incogni, Aura requests that your data be removed from broker’s databases. It does this frequently to ensure that your data is removed again in case your information is added back to said databases in the future.

Aura offers more than just data removal. You also get $1M identity theft insurance, credit monitoring (from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax), instant credit lock, financial transaction alerts, and more. For a full rundown of Aura’s identity theft suite, check out our in-depth Aura review.

While testing Aura, I found the data removal process to be straightforward. There’s not much input required from you as Aura handles data removal requests on your behalf. I like that it provides information on how long before data brokers can legally reacquire your data and that it regularly submits removal requests to combat that scenario.

User-friendliness – how easy-to-use is Aura?

Signing up for Aura was a painless experience, but setting up all its features can be a bit time-consuming. You’ll need to run security scans, set up a safety checklist, configure your credit monitoring setup, set up financial transaction monitoring, and finally configure your identity monitoring settings.

If that seems like a lot, it is. It took me several minutes to get everything up and running. While you can skip some steps in the process, I recommend getting everything done in one go so you don’t have to worry about them later.

Aura’s dashboard is simple and well-designed. All of its features are easily accessible, and you don’t feel lost navigating the interface. The data removal settings are under the “Vault” tab.

Pricing – how much does Aura cost?

Aura offers several plans. Most features stay the same across different pricing tiers, with only the number of seats and insurance value changing.

Here’s an overview of Aura’s plans:

Plan	Price	Insurance Coverage	Seats
Individual	$9.00/month	$1M Identity Theft Insurance	1 adult, 10 devices
Couple	$15.00/month	$2M Identity Theft Insurance	2 adults, 20 devices
Family	$20.00/month	$5M Identity Theft Insurance	5 adults, unlimited kids, and unlimited devices

The family plan includes parental controls and all of Aura’s regular features. All plans also come with an antivirus, VPN, and password manager.

I like that Aura has a long list of privacy features. However, if you only need data removal services, it may be unreasonably expensive. I recommend choosing Aura only if you plan on using its identity theft protection tools.

3. Onerep: the best data removal service for the whole family

Number of data broker sites covered:	200+
Starting price:	$7.49/month
Free trial:	Yes (5-day free trial)

Visit Onerep

Onerep is a great data removal solution for your family. Its Family plan covers up to 6 people and costs only $13.99/month. You can get a free Onerep scan to see if your information is in the databases of over 200 data broker sites.

Effectiveness – how does Onerep remove your data from brokers’ databases?

To get your free scan, visit Onerep’s homepage, and enter your full name, location, and email address. Onerep will provide a detailed breakdown of which brokers have your data. Of course, until you sign up for an account, you won’t be able to ask Onerep to remove the data for you.

Onerep can remove your data from various sources, including data broker websites, data aggregators, people finder websites, social media sites, and more. It can even remove your data from Google. It does so by requesting the removal of your information so you don’t have to contact these brokers individually.

User-friendliness – how easy-to-use is Onerep?

Onerep provides a quick and easy registration process. I especially like that it offers a free scan, as this demonstrates some of its features before you commit to a plan.

After opening an account, I had to provide additional information in my profile settings. I like that you can include “Aliases,” which can be your nickname or any alternate names you use. This expands Onerep’s search beyond just your birth name.

Overall, using Onerep was a pleasant experience, and I appreciate its no-frills approach. It’s a simple service with a neat user interface, which makes it a good option even if you have family members who aren’t tech-savvy.

Pricing – how much does Onerep cost?

Onerep has plans for individuals and families. Here’s an overview of Onerep’s pricing:

Plan	Price	Seats
Individual	$7.49/month	1 person
Family	$13.99/month	Up to 6 people

While Onerep is more affordable than Aura, it’s not as cheap as Incogni. I recommend Onerep if you need a family plan, but Incogni is hard to beat for individual users.

4. DeleteMe: covers the largest number of data broker sites

Number of data broker sites covered:	750+
Starting price:	$8.60/month
Free trial:	No

Visit Deleteme

DeleteMe is an impressive data removal service that covers 750+ data brokers and can remove various types of information, including your name, age, address, photos, relatives, marital status, and more. Like Onerep, DeleteMe offers a free scan to check how much of your personal data is available online.

Effectiveness – how does DeleteMe remove your data from brokers’ databases?

DeleteMe uses the data you provide to find related records and then processes data removal requests on your behalf. When I used the free scan, DeleteMe detected 30+ of my records on data broker sites.

The service checks broker sites every three months to ensure your information isn’t re-added to these databases. You also receive quarterly reports about your personal data, which is useful to stay on top of your online privacy.

Aside from data removal, DeleteMe can also randomly generate phone numbers, email addresses, and credit card numbers. These auto-generated details allow you to hide your real information while shopping online or signing up for online services.

User-friendliness – how easy-to-use is DeleteMe?

Like other data removal services, signing up for DeleteMe is straightforward. After purchasing a subscription plan, you’ll need to provide some personal information that DeleteMe will use to find your records.

DeleteMe’s dashboard is intuitive to use. You can easily navigate between Reports, Privacy Tools, Account Management, and more. I also like that you can make Custom Removal Requests if you find your information on a broker site.

I think the free scan is a great add-on and a nifty way to let users test DeleteMe’s scanning abilities before signing up for a subscription.

Pricing – how much does DeleteMe cost?

DeleteMe offers plans for individuals and families. However, its Family plan only covers 4 people, while Aura and Onerep have family plans for up to 6 people.

Here are the plans available from DeleteMe:

Plan	Price (Billed every two years)	Seats
Individual	$8.60/month	1 person
Couple	$13.93/month	2 people
Family	$20.79/month	4 people

All plans come with DeleteMe’s full list of features. I think DeleteMe is a great pick for the impressive number of data broker sites it covers, which allows for more comprehensive data removal. This is probably the best alternative to Incogni for individuals, though Onerep’s Family plan is more cost-effective.

5. Optery: offers free data exposure reports

Number of data broker sites covered:	560+
Starting price:	$3.99/month
Free trial:	Yes (plus a 30-day money-back guarantee)

Visit Optery

Optery is the only entry on this list that offers a free plan, but don’t expect to get data removal as part of its free service. Optery Free Basic provides free quarterly Exposure Reports, which is a good jump-off point for safeguarding your data privacy. To enjoy all of Optery’s features, you’ll need to get a paid subscription.

Effectiveness – how does Optery remove your data from brokers’ databases?

Depending on the subscription tier you choose, Optery can remove your data from up to 560+ websites. Like other services on this list, Optery requests data removal on your behalf.

Optery’s basic paid plan (“Core”) only removes one name and address from brokers’ sites. If you want to delete multiple names or have lived in different cities and states in the past, you’ll need the Extended or Ultimate plan.

All Optery’s paid plans come with automatic scans and removals every 30 days. The Ultimate plan also includes custom removals, similar to DeleteMe.

User-friendliness – how easy-to-use is Optery?

Signing up for Optery requires some personal information, like your email address, state/region, city, and year of birth. The process is easy, and it only takes a few minutes. After successfully opening an account, I completed my profile with more information to help Optery match my data with brokers’ existing records.

From there, I was welcomed to its dashboard, which I found pleasing to look at and explore. I also found a summary report of my data removal requests, which is useful when I don’t want to spend too much time checking up on Optery’s progress.

Pricing – how much does Optery cost?

Optery offers individual and business plans, and each pricing tier comes with different features. Check out Optery’s individual subscription plans below:

Plan	Price	Sites covered
Free Basic	Free	–
Core	$3.99/month	80+
Extended	$3.25/month (billed annually)	180+
Ultimate	$12.42/month (billed annually)	575+

Optery’s paid plans come with recurring removals (every 30 days) and privacy reports. However, only the Ultimate plan offers real-time alerts and custom removal requests. It also has the most coverage at 575+ data broker sites.

Optery’s Core and Extended plans are affordable, though they only cover 80+ and 180+ sites, respectively. If you want to subscribe to Optery, I recommend getting the Ultimate plan, which has wider data broker site coverage.

How I tested the best data removal services

Here’s a glimpse into the criteria I used to create a shortlist of the best data removal services for this article:

• Features and effectiveness: Can the data removal service deliver on its promise to scrub my data? How long does it take the service to remove data from a broker’s database?
• Ease of use: Is the website easy to navigate? Is the signup process easy to follow? Does the app have an intuitive interface?
• Pricing: What subscription tiers are available from this provider? Is there a free trial or a free plan? How do its prices compare to other providers?

Methodology

To test the data removal services on this list, I signed up for an account with each service and initiated the data removal process. This typically involved entering my personal data and authorizing the service to act as my proxy.

Afterward, I waited to see how much of my data the service could remove within a set time frame. While waiting, I explored each service’s features and settings, evaluating their ease of use and comparing pricing plans to see which one offered the best value for money.

I also analyzed user feedback on different review sites and forums to identify popular concerns about the services.

Comparison of the best data removal services

Service Name	Incogni	Aura	Onerep	DeleteMe	Optery
Starting price	$7.49/month	$9.00/month	$7.49/month	$8.60/month	$3.99/month
Free trial	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Data broker opt-out	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Number of data brokers covered	180+	20+	200+	750+	560+
Privacy reports	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CTA	Try Incogni	Try Aura	Try Onerep	Try DeleteMe	Try Optery

What is a data broker, and how do they get my information?

Data brokers track, collect, and piece together user data from different sources all over the Internet. They can get your information from public records, social media sites, mobile apps, online purchases, video game registrations, and more.

Any time you willingly share your information online, there’s a high chance a broker will get their hands on that data.

Of course, this breach of privacy isn’t always due to user error. Some companies betray your trust by selling your data to brokers. This is why it's a good idea to review a company’s privacy policy before agreeing to use its service. A privacy policy details what data a company can collect and what it does with it.

But what do data brokers do with your information? The answer is simple: they make money off of it. They sell your data to people search sites, marketing lists, and scammers.

Can you remove your personal data yourself for free?

You certainly can. However, it can be time-consuming and tedious. I researched this process to see if data removal services were worth paying for. My conclusion? Absolutely.

To perform data removal yourself, you’ll first need to identify all the data broker sites that have your information. Afterward, you’ll need to manually request data removal from each one. Usually, this involves sending an email. However, be prepared to send multiple follow-ups if the broker site ignores your initial request. You’ll also need to keep track of all your data removal requests to ensure that you’re making any progress.

Then, if the data broker site re-acquires your personal data after a certain number of months, be prepared to re-do this process. As I said, it’s tedious. That’s why privacy experts recommend using a data removal tool.

Conclusion

Like it or not, your personal data is floating around the Internet, potentially waiting to be sold off to scammers and cybercriminals. To avoid privacy breaches that can put your online safety in peril, I highly recommend using a data removal service to scrub your information from data broker sites.

But which one should you pick? Various data removal services exist, each with its distinct advantages.

Aura is a full-suite identity theft protection service, while Onerep is an excellent family data removal service. DeleteMe covers an impressive 750+ data broker sites, while Optery offers free data broker scanning. Any of these options is a good pick for enriching your online privacy.

However, my top pick is Incogni, a data removal service developed by Surfshark. During my tests, Incogni proved to be fast, reliable, and intuitive. It’s also affordable, at only $7.49/month.

Protect your privacy with Incogni

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