Value

Based on my testing, you get what you pay for with data removal services. EasyOptOuts can remove your data for $20 a year, but offers almost nothing in the way of additional features or customization. If you’re willing to spend more money on a service — most cost a couple of hundred dollars for an annual subscription — you could get more, such as proactive privacy features with DeleteMe or social media removals with Kanary. Consider how you want to interact with the service and what you expect to use it for, and then whether the relevant services and plans fit your budget.

Efficacy

In my experience, data removal efficacy can be difficult to measure in part because of inconsistencies in how sites and removals are counted. Some services might boast about removing data from hundreds or thousands of sources, but may count networks of sites as multiple sources, whereas another company might count that network as one source. I relied on third-party data from Consumer Reports to help determine efficacy when possible.

Usability

You may not have the time or resources to manually opt out of data brokers and people-finder sites, but even if you do, you’ll want a user-friendly data removal service to avoid a steep learning curve. All the core functionalities of a service, like entering your information, submitting opt-out requests and viewing reports, should be easy to accomplish, with streamlined interfaces. 

Hands-on vs. hands-off removals

Removals can be hands-off, hands-on or somewhere in between, but there’s no right or wrong approach. If you value convenience, less involvement is better, but a hands-on experience may provide more transparency since you can monitor results. There are generally three types of data removal service experiences. The first is fully automated, and you may not hear anything outside of privacy reports. The second type scans and finds your information, but you may be asked to verify some of it. Finally, some services present you with information that may or may not pertain to you, and you have to handle the removals on your own. 

Automated vs. custom removals

Automated and custom removals are different, but both remove your information from data brokers and people-finder sites. Automated removals are fully managed by the service you subscribe to, while custom removals require you to find your data online, send a link to your service of where you found your data and then your service handles opt-out requests. Almost every service I tried included automated removals as a standard feature, while only some offered custom removals. Custom removals give you greater coverage, but require you to find your own data. Services that offer custom removals usually only provide them as part of higher-tiered — and therefore more expensive — plans. 

Transparency

Removal reports and opt-out summaries can help verify where a service found your information, if it’s been removed and whether it continues to appear. Some services include detailed activity histories as well as screenshots of websites where your information was found as well as screenshots of that website once a removal has occurred as proof of the service’s work. The more proof a service provides to show its work, the easier it is to recommend.

Privacy and security

It can be hard to trust a service that doesn’t take privacy and security precautions to protect your data. You don’t want to create a larger privacy and security issue by entrusting your data to a company that doesn’t take care of it. When I was evaluating these services, I looked to see whether the services underwent a System and Organization Controls audit. These look at a company’s financial and data security practices and can offer peace of mind that a service is doing what it says it is. Only with EasyOptOuts did I overlook this requirement because of the service’s other security system in place, as well as its extremely low price and astonishing removal efficacy per third-party testing.

Using a data removal service vs. opting out on your own

You can opt out of data brokers and people-finder sites on your own, and according to Consumer Reports data, you’ll be more successful than all these data removal services. However, finding your information online, then figuring out the right processes to remove your data can be time-consuming. If you have the resources to block off time and remove your information — and save yourself some money — you should. But others may not have that time or patience, which is when a data removal service can help.