My experience with the data removal service
I was getting a lot of spam: newsletter, reminders “that I’m missed”, messages to my phone about non existing “missed” payments and so on. And I started looking at how to stop it. I thought I'd share my experience and hear your tips.
What data removal services do?
From what I gathered, my data was collected and resold to other companies for marketing purposes. And it's easy to say “it’s just spam. ignore it”. But it got to the point where I would miss important emails because they got mixed up with all the spam. probably breached. I thought I would never be able to track the source of my data misuse. But then I found out there are data removal tools.
To describe such services briefly, they delete your personal info from websites and data brokers databases. Whitepages, BeenVerified, the list goes on, and apparently there are hundreds of them. Why it’s important not to ignore them, is because they are the reason for spam emails and calls or scam, stalking attempts you get. I personally was bombarded with spam, but I’ve read it can be used to steal SSN and stuff.
How data removal services work?
You as a user subscribe to one of the services, and task these data removal services with what info you want to be monitored (typically, it’s your name, emails, phone numbers, etc.) Then databases and people search sites are being scanned, to see if they have your data. You get a report on how widely your data is spread out there, and data deletion services start sending official requests on your behalf to data brokers to delete what they have on you. And you see how one by one companies are removing what they have on you. At least, this is how incogni works but I am sure that there are many similarities between these kind of services.
Bonus points go to tools that offer continuous scans which prevent data brokers from starting collecting your data anew.
Are data removal services legit?
Again, I’m not an expert, but I would say, yes. I mean, If they wouldn’t, you’d easily check if Whitepages still have a profile on you. Or you would receive the same amount of spam emails and calls. After subscribing to Incogni I saw a huge decrease in spam, so I would say it worked.
Prices
When I was choosing from different services, I saw a huge difference in cost. I’m not completely sure why, to be honest. Prices can be from $6 per month to $200 for service. There are differences in how many databases are scanned, how many of your aliases are covered, but I personally don’t get why such a big difference exists.
Why I chose Incogni
I’m not tech savvy, and my goal was to reduce spam. Also, the price came into play (someone is recommending the coupon "reddit55", maybe it still works). So my reasons when choosing data deletion service were:
- Will all data brokers be scanned/my data removed from their databases?
- Reasonable pricing
- If the requests sent to data brokers will be successful
- The ability to see the progress
- No relations to phishy companies or scandals in the past
- Regular scans and removals
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Does Incogni actually work?
I would say, yes. Before registration, I would probably get up to 18 spam emails a day and 4-5 messages per week to my phone. After registration in May, it started to decrease. Now, it’s somewhat 4 spam emails a week and 1 phone message in a few months.
That’s my experience. I'm curious to hear if data removal services were helpful to you.