DeleteMe Review: Our Data Removal Results After One Year
Trying to make the most of deleteme review our data? You are in the right place. Below we break it down in plain English, with practical tips you can actually use.
Key Takeaways
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- Learn more about how we make money and read our review methodology.
- It can be unnerving to find tidbits of your personally identifiable information on the web.
It can be unnerving to find tidbits of your personally identifiable information on the web. An untold number of websites could have your name, phone number, email address, and/or physical address.
The effects of the dissemination of these tidbits range from irksome to terrifying, as sometimes people can use this information to harass, intimidate, impersonate or defraud you.
What most people don’t realize is that you can request that your info be erased from these websites, though it is a painstaking and time-consuming process. Luckily, there are privacy services like DeleteMe that can do this for you.
Key Note: The company DeleteMe, which is frequently advertised on various podcasts, is actually located at joindeleteme.com. This should not be confused with deleteme.com, a completely different entity.
4.2/5DeleteMe is a paid service that removes personal data from “people search” sites and data brokers. In a one year trial of the service, they scrubbed 68 listings with information such as name, address, age and relatives.
The convenience of automating opt-out requests makes it worthwhile for those concerned about their digital footprint. However, if you’re on a tight budget, the process of removing your information can be done manually.
Overall, DeleteMe significantly reduces the amount of your personal information that is exposed online. Just don't expect overnight results: in our testing, it took two quarterly scans to remove 90% of our data. So plan on waiting at least six months to see major improvements in your digital footprint. But over time, what pops up about you in searches shrinks thanks to DeleteMe's removals.
Pros:- Saves you hours of work.
- Issues quarterly reports on which sites still have your data, which have been cleared, and which ones are still pending.
- 100% satisfaction guarantee.
- The service is expensive to maintain. While they have a monthly payment plan, our info was still present on sites six months after signing up.
- It doesn’t cover all data brokers.
- Numerous sites can only be removed via custom request.
Table of Contents
ToggleDeleteMe Quick Summary
If you’re concerned about your online privacy, you can use DeleteMe to remove your information from data brokers’ websites. You could do this on your own by sending a request to each site and monitoring that site to make sure your info is actually removed, but DeleteMe takes care of this process for you using a combination of automation and human interaction.
In our testing, DeleteMe reviewed 3,604 listings on “people search” and data broker sites containing our personal information. They identified that our personal data was present on 70 total data brokers. Throughout a full year, the service successfully submitted removal requests to clear information from 68 of those 70 sources (across four different scans).
Specifically, we received removals for 44 data broker listings in June, 19 more in September, and four additional sources were scrubbed in December. Then, just one in March of the following year.
This image from the DeleteMe report shows the total listings reviewed and the matching listings removed over four quarters.The service handles the bulk of the work initially, which may take a few months, and continues to monitor throughout the year. However, it naturally uncovers fewer listings as time goes on.
The idea of staying on the subscription is to identify and delete your data from new data broker sites once they go live.
DeleteMe Basics
Your personally identifiable data is all over the web, from the name and birthdate that your bank keeps on file to the email address you entered to get that free e-book on how to keep houseplants alive.
Your information (even the not-so-sensitive things like your email address) is extremely valuable to advertisers because the more they know about you, the easier it is to sell stuff to you. Companies called data brokers collect this information from various websites and public records, repackage it into an organized profile about your demographic info, and sell it to advertisers.
In addition to people interested in your data for legitimate business purposes, there are those with more nefarious motives, such as fraudsters, thieves and crazy ex-girlfriends. (Really! BeenVerified states that 13% of their users search for people for dating/cheating purposes.)
Data breaches and the potential for identity theft are very real threats, as consumers were defrauded out of $8.8 billion in just one year. The more information that’s out on the web, the higher your risk, because identity thieves have fewer data points to fill in when pretending to be you.
To remove your personal information from data broker websites, you must send each one an opt-out request. Thanks to the new California Consumer Privacy Act, these requests now have more teeth in them than they once did, and numerous data brokers are complying with these requests.
But sending a removal request to every site that may have your information is cumbersome and time-consuming. Plus you’d have to monitor each website to verify that they’ve actually removed your information and track each to ensure they don’t repopulate your data. DeleteMe does all this on your behalf.
It’s worth noting that you can do all of this yourself. In fact, DeleteMe even has a series of guides for DIYers. But it would take hours to remove all your data from the sites that DeleteMe covers. For numerous shoppers, the convenience of the saved time is worth the cost.
How it Works
Once you sign up, you supply DeleteMe with the information you want to be scrubbed from the web by filling out their datasheet. You also grant them limited power of attorney to act on your behalf to request that your data be removed. They do not ask for personal financial information (like account numbe
Final Thoughts
The bottom line: a little research on deleteme review our data goes a long way. Compare your options, watch for seasonal offers, and never pay full price when a better deal is one click away.
Originally published at thewaystowealth.com.
Jenni Sisson
Our editorial team researches and verifies every money-saving guide before publishing. Editorial policy · About us
