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Surfshark: Best data removal services to stop brokers from selling your information

Everytime we use the internet our personal information sits in hundreds of databases online. Data brokers collect our details from signups, purchases, and web activity, then sell detailed profiles to marketers, employers, and scammers. This selling/trading opf personal information creates unwanted calls, spam emails, targeted ads, and identity theft risks. Data removal services solve this by contacting databases directly to delete your information, monitoring broker sites, and removing new profiles as they appear. Mr. Alek Furgal of Surfshark shares us Surfshark's best data removal services that will stop, or at the very least, keep our personal information from being distributed all over the globe. Read on below. 


What are data removal services, and how do they work?
Think of data removal services as professional cleaners for your online footprint. These services specialize in finding and removing your personal information from data broker databases across the internet.

Here’s how the process typically works:
 

• 1. Information gathering: you provide the service with your basic details (name, address, phone number, email).
  
• 2. Database scanning: the service searches hundreds of data broker sites to find your information.
  
• 3. Removal requests: they submit formal opt-out requests to each broker on your behalf.
  
• 4. Monitoring and maintenance: the best services continuously monitor broker sites and remove your information when it reappears.
  

What you get depends on the service you choose. The most comprehensive services handle everything automatically in the background — no manual searches or deciphering complex opt-out procedures on your part. However, some budget services only provide guidance on how to contact data brokers yourself, while others offer one-time removals without ongoing monitoring.

Types of data brokers
Data brokers fall into several categories, each collecting different types of personal information:
 

• People search sites: these create and host public profiles with your contact details and background information that anyone can find through search engines. Examples include WhitePages, Spokeo, and BeenVerified;
  
• Marketing data brokers: collect browsing habits and purchase data to sell targeted advertising profiles. They track your online behavior across multiple websites and apps;
  
• Risk mitigation brokers: these compile background data, including health information and court records, selling assessment reports to investment companies and employers;
  
• Recruitment data brokers: create background reports for HR departments and offer employee screening services;
  
• Financial information brokers: these collect financial and credit data and sell it to credit card companies, banks, and loan providers.
  

Most data removal services solely target people search sites, which constitute only 33% of all registered data brokers. The vast majority operate privately, selling your information to businesses without public-facing websites.

Effective data removal requires targeting both types. Services that cover private database brokers try to stop data sales at their source rather than addressing only visible leaks.



How to choose a data removal service
When comparing data removal services, consider these factors:
 

• 1. Broker coverage: how many data brokers does the service cover with automated removals? Many services inflate numbers by including sites they’ve removed from once or counting manual ones that require human intervention. Choose services that clearly state their automated coverage and target high-impact brokers rather than padding numbers with irrelevant sites.
  
• 2. Automation level: the best services handle everything automatically — finding your data, submitting removal requests, and monitoring for reappearances. Services requiring frequent manual input or offering limited automation waste your time when better options exist.
  
• 3. Legal compliance: your service should operate within GDPR, CCPA, and FCRA frameworks. This ensures they can legally compel data brokers to remove information and handle your data responsibly during removal.
  
• 4. Ease of use: look for intuitive dashboards, clear reporting, and responsive customer support. You shouldn’t need technical expertise to understand what’s happening with your data.
  
• 5. Reporting and transparency: quality services provide detailed reports showing ongoing monitoring results, along with which brokers had your information and what exactly was removed.
  
• 6. Price and subscription model: compare what you get at each price tier. Watch out for services that lock essential features behind expensive premium plans.
  

 

6 best data removal services: comparison

Note: Information and USD pricing current as of June 28, 2025, based on publicly available data from providers’ websites. Prices may change due to currency fluctuations or promotional offers.

Top data removal services include:

 

• DeleteMe
  
  Trustpilot rating: 4.4/5 (174 reviews)
  Read our Incogni vs. DeleteMe comparison
   
  
  
  
  
  Strengths: DeleteMe provides detailed exposure reports and offers quarterly reporting. They focus heavily on people search sites where your information is most visible to the general public.
  
  Limitations: limited automated broker coverage compared to competitors, no coverage of private data brokers, and custom removals are capped at relatively low numbers.
  
  Best for: users primarily concerned with visible people search sites and who want detailed quarterly reports.
  
  
  
  
• Kanary (by Optery)
  
  Trustpilot rating: 4.5/5 (121 reviews)
   
  
  
  
  
  Strengths: provides before-and-after screenshots of removals and detailed exposure reports. Offers flexible billing options, including two-year plans.
  
  Limitations: pay-for-privacy model limits removals on cheaper plans, no private database broker coverage, 30-day delay on custom removals.
  
  Best for: users wanting visual confirmation of removals who don’t mind paying more for comprehensive coverage.
  
  
  
  
• Optery
  
  Trustpilot rating: 4.5/5 (121 reviews)
  See our Incogni vs. Optery comparison
   
  
  
  
  
  Strengths: provides before-and-after screenshots, automates removals from top people search sites, and delivers detailed exposure reports. Interface and reporting differ slightly from Kanary.
  
  Limitations: pay-for-privacy pricing model, focuses almost exclusively on people search sites while ignoring private-database data brokers, custom removals limited to select people search sites, optional OpenAI integration may share customer data with third parties.
  
  Best for: users wanting an alternative to Kanary with similar functionality.
  
  
  
  
• Privacy Bee
  
  Trustpilot rating: 3.4/5 (8 reviews)
   
  
  
  
  
  Strengths: offers risk assessment features for free and handles some industry opt-outs, such as junk mail.
  
  Limitations: most expensive service, requires substantial hands-on work and constant monitoring, inflates data broker coverage numbers.
  
  Best for: users who need the specialized risk assessment features and are comfortable with higher costs and more manual involvement.
  
  
  
  
• Incogni
  
  Trustpilot rating: 4.4/5 (1,799 reviews)
  See our Incogni review
   
  
  
  
  
  
  Strengths: Incogni covers the broadest range of data broker types, including private ones that some competitors ignore. Their Unlimited plan includes unlimited custom removals from nearly any website beyond just data brokers. Custom removals start immediately, all broker coverage comes at every pricing tier, and they count brokers transparently while targeting high-impact removals.
  
  Limitations: limited data points during onboarding (names, emails, and phone numbers only), basic monthly reports, custom removals require manual link submission, no mobile app.
  
  [Best for: users wanting comprehensive coverage of private-database brokers, transparent pricing, and immediate custom removal access.
  
  
  
  
• Aura
  
  Trustpilot rating: 4.3/5 (794 reviews)
  See our Incogni vs. Aura comparison
   
  
  
  
  
  Strengths: comprehensive identity protection suite, including data removal, credit monitoring, identity theft protection, and privacy tools.
  
  Limitations: limited transparency regarding data removal capabilities, pricing varies by bundle, not specialized for data broker removal.
  
  Best for: users wanting data removal as part of broader identity protection rather than standalone data broker removal.
  

What makes Incogni stand out
Incogni excels in several areas that matter most for effective data removal:
 

• Comprehensive broker coverage: covers all five types of data brokers, including private ones that represent 66% of the ecosystem. Competitors focus mainly on visible people search sites;
  
  
• Transparent approach: the 270+ broker count represents actual automated removals, not inflated statistics from one-time removals or theoretical possibilities;
  
  
• Holistic data removal: beyond the automated ones, Incogni offers unlimited custom removals from nearly any website — including blogs, forums, business directories, and even e-commerce platforms. This makes it a remove your data from the internet solution, rather than just another data broker service. With Ultimate plans, custom removals start immediately;
  
  
• Strong automation: handles discovery, removal, and ongoing monitoring automatically. No manual requests or constant oversight is required;
  
  
• Privacy bundle value: combined with Surfshark VPN (Virtual Private Network), Incogni provides comprehensive online privacy protection at a competitive price;
  
  
• Legal compliance: operates under GDPR and CCPA compliance, ensuring proper data handling and legally backed removal requests.
  

Google Trends shows Incogni as the most popular data removal service in the US. With nearly 1,800 Trustpilot reviews, it’s also the most-reviewed service in the market.



Protecting your privacy goes beyond data removal
Your personal information has value — that’s why data brokers want to get it and sell it.

Comprehensive data removal helps you regain control of your online privacy and reduces exposure to spam, scams, and identity theft.

Choose a service with comprehensive coverage, transparent practices, and strong automation. Services that only target visible people search sites leave two-thirds of the data broker ecosystem untouched.

For complete privacy protection, combine data removal with a VPN to encrypt your internet connection and prevent future data collection.

 

MORE Info HERE


Data and info derived / lifted from Surfshark with permission