by Lindsay Pietroluongo
Companies that remove personal information from internet searches can help you repair your online reputation and protect your privacy.
Finding your data on a people search website or another type of database may be shocking, especially if all sorts of sensitive info is available. On top of having your full name, current home address and phone number accessible to anyone with an internet connection, data brokers can pull all sorts of personal information from online sources.
It’s not uncommon to see your contact information, court records, financial documents and more online.
Luckily, there are companies that remove personal information from the internet so you don’t have to take the task on yourself.
It can be frustrating and tedious to submit data removal requests to people search sites because each website has its own removal process. Additionally, once the site scrapes the internet for new or additional information about you, your data can show up on the website again — possibly without you realizing it.
Data removal services provide a solution to this problem. Read on to learn about the best data removal services around.
If simply removing your personal information from people search sites isn’t enough, get in touch with NetReputation today to learn about our data deletion services and our online reputation packages.
Request a Free Consultation
Why Should I Remove My Data From the Internet?
There’s an incredible amount of personal data about all of us online.
Even taking steps to protect your privacy online — such as keeping social media accounts private and never posting personal photos online — doesn’t prevent people search sites from finding and sharing your information.
Reducing your digital footprint is about more than limiting the contact information someone can find out about you.
It’s also about keeping you and your loved ones safe from cyber threats like identity theft and financial scams. Moreover, protecting your private information limits the possibility of problems happening offline, like in-person harassment and stalking.
If you need to speak with an expert immediately about keeping your personal information safe online, call us at 844-461-3632 for a free consultation.
5 Companies That Remove Personal Information From Internet Searches
If you were to tackle each and every people search site on your own to submit opt-out requests, the job would be never-ending. Luckily, there are tools and services that will do it for you.
If you need online reputation management services that include and extend beyond data removal, get in touch with us for a free consultation.
DeleteMe
After submitting your information to DeleteMe, the service will find it online and submit removal requests to the site and third-party companies that have indexed your data. Within one week, you’ll get a report from DeleteMe that goes over the progress that’s been made.
There are a few other features that DeleteMe offers to help you stay safe online, such as email and phone number masking.
Incogni
Incogni will collect your personal information and then find and reach out to online data brokers who are holding onto your info. When necessary, Incogni will also refer to privacy laws, such as GDPR, to persuade data brokers to remove your info from their sites.
One complaint against Incogni is that reporting doesn’t always provide the in-depth info that many users want.
Kanary
Kanary deals with a majority of your data removal in 90 days, cleaning up online info, including data dumps, search links and sensitive information. In addition to having Kanary remove your personal information online, you can also add info for your family members to create removal profiles for them, too.
Keep in mind that there are instances when you’ll need to be involved in manual removal handling with Kanary.
NetReputation
At NetReputation, one of the many online reputation management (ORM) services we offer is content removal for individuals and businesses.
Our content removal services include opting out of data broker websites, but we’re also able to remove or suppress the following types of content if they’re hurting your online image:
- Blog posts
- Images
- News articles
- Reviews
- Social media content
- Videos
Our removal services are fast so that you can start repairing your online reputation immediately. Plus, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee.
In order to remove online content, we alert sites when they’re in breach of Terms of Service (TOS), copyright, or other laws. And on top of handling basic data broker opt-outs, we’ll directly negotiate with the publisher or website owner if necessary.
You can get a free consultation by calling 844-461-3632 to learn how we can help you.
PrivacyBee
With PrivacyBee, you’ll let the service know which companies you do or do not trust so your privacy options can be updated. Your information will be removed from data brokers as well as other types of companies that you don’t want having access to your data.
There’s a PrivacyBee browser extension that you can opt to set up, which will show your data relationship with brands you visit online.
How To Choose a Data Broker Removal Service
There are several factors to consider when deciding which data removal company to hire.
Price
When considering the data removal service to choose, price is a major factor.
Even the best services that can remove data aren’t going to be helpful if it’ll put a strain on your budget.
Look for data removal services that are affordable while still offering the core feature you need, like submitting custom removal requests to data aggregators that are uncooperative about removing your personal info.
Many personal information removal services will have a range of plans to choose from. Or, you can speak with a data removal service that will work with you to create a custom budget you can afford while still seeing results.
Features
It’s obvious that the best data removal services will perform the main task: submit removal requests to websites that gather and share your personal data.
However, consider additional data protection services you might need.
For example, if your personal information is still showing up in Google search results, you may need content removal in addition to data removal. Or, if content removal isn’t possible, content suppression is the next best option.
Many personal data deletion services don’t have options beyond contacting data broker databases. If you need more help managing your online footprint, call 844-461-3632 to get in touch with NetReputation today.
Reporting
Having a personal data deletion service is only helpful to the customer if you can actually see the progress being made. Ask about the reports you’ll get, and find out how frequently you’ll receive reports and what information is included in them.
Ideally, the data removal service will show you a sample report so you know exactly what you’ll get.
Be wary of any personal data deletion services that are hesitant to provide the information you need. It’s important to have clear communication with the experts you hire to contact data broker sites — your personal information and online accounts are in their hands.
What’s the Best Service for Data Removal?
All of the services we’ve outlined above are considered at the top of the industry for data removal. The one that’s “best” is the one that’s best for you, meaning it has the features you need and fits within your budget.
If you need straightforward data removal, a company that provides only that service (with maybe one or two extras) is likely going to be the most cost-effective option.
However, if you’re dealing with online reputation issues beyond where your private information can be found online, you’ll need a more robust solution.
In addition to submitting opt-out requests to data brokers and monitoring your info online to know when it surfaces somewhere new, NetReputation has full-scale ORM offerings.
To learn more about how we can keep you safe online and build the positive online reputation you deserve, call us today at 844-461-3632 or fill out the contact form below.