Google will shut down “unhelpful” dark web monitoring tool

Google has announced that it’s about to discontinue its dark web monitoring tool in February, less than two years after it was launched to help users determine if their personal data is available anywhere on the dark web.

According to the tech giant, scans for new dark web breaches will be stopped on January 15th, and the feature will cease to exist effective February 16th, 2026.

“While the report offered general information, feedback showed that it didn't provide helpful next steps. We're making this change to instead focus on tools that give you more clear, actionable steps to protect your information online,” Google said in a support document.

Aras Nazarovas, senior information security researcher at Cybernews, uses dark web monitoring tools daily and has interacted with Google’s tool.

“This was a similar feature to what most password managers had already implemented by the time Google introduced it. Therefore, my experience with it was pretty brief,” said Nazarovas.

“And yet it didn’t appear to be as reliable as other dark web monitoring solutions, as it would miss some leaks that others wouldn’t.”

According to Nazarovas, Google’s feature is good in that it’s free and enabled by default.

“This means that many more people can benefit from it since they don’t need to seek out the tool or pay for it.”

Soon, though, Google will cease monitoring the dark web for its users. The company stated that it would soon delete all data related to dark web reports, but noted that users can erase their monitoring profile ahead of time.

Google unveiled the dark web monitor in March 2023 to combat online identity fraud stemming from information stolen through data breaches and made available on the dark web.

They need to go to the Dark Web report page, click “Edit monitoring profile” under “Results with your info”, and finally, click “Delete monitoring profile” at the bottom.

The tech giant has also urged users to strengthen their account privacy and security by creating a passkey for phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA) and removing their personal information from Google Search results via Results about you.

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Google unveiled the dark web monitor in March 2023 to combat online identity fraud stemming from information stolen through data breaches and made available on the dark web.

As is the case with this feature elsewhere, Google’s tool was designed to scan the darknet for personal data, such as name, address, email, phone number, and Social Security number, and notify users when it’s found.

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