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Recent findings by Consumer Reports have cast doubt on the effectiveness of people-search site removal services, claiming a high rate of ineffectiveness among tested companies.
However, this study did not include MyDataRemoval, a pioneer in proactive data privacy solutions. Here, we respond to these findings and share our own audit results to highlight the strengths and areas for improvement within our services.
Consumer Reports Study Overview
Consumer Reports evaluated the performance of seven different data removal services by checking their effectiveness in removing personal information from 13 major people-search websites.
The results, as they report, were largely unsatisfactory, with many services failing to completely remove user data across the board. The graphic below shows the effectiveness rates for each provider across various time frames.
| People Search Sites | Profiles removed within 1 week by other competitors | Profiles removed within 1 month by other competitors | Profiles removed within 4 months by other competitors |
|---|---|---|---|
| BeenVerified | 32% | 48% | 55% |
| CheckPeople | 13% | 13% | 16% |
| ClustrMaps | 50% | 50% | 59% |
| Dataveria | 31% | 31% | 31% |
| Intelius | 13% | 20% | 20% |
| MyLife | 32% | 32% | 36% |
| Nuwber | 35% | 38% | 42% |
| PeopleFinders | 53% | 66% | 66% |
| PublicDataUSA | 12% | 12% | 19% |
| Radaris | 28% | 31% | 31% |
| Spokeo | 29% | 29% | 39% |
| ThatsThem | 38% | 42% | 58% |
| Whitepages | 45% | 45% | 48% |
MyDataRemoval: Our Audit and Commitment to Improvement
In light of the Consumer Reports study, we conducted an internal audit to assess our own effectiveness compared to other industry players. Our findings were encouraging but also highlighted areas for growth.
One of the main differences from the study was that Consumer Reports followed people over time, while we looked at different customers who signed up at the intervals shown by the report.
So the ‘profiles removed within 1 week’ category is a random sampling of our customers who signed up a week ago, ‘profiles removed within 1 month’ is customers who signed up 1 month ago, etc.
In the audit we found that MyDataRemoval successfully removed up to 85% of personal data in the first week, with lower success rates at one month (71%) and four months (73%). This positions us ahead of our competitors in the initial removal stages.
| Data Removal Services | Profiles removed within 1 week | Profiles removed within 1 month | Profiles removed within 4 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confidently | 0% | 2% | 4% |
| DeleteMe | 13% | 20% | 27% |
| EasyOptOuts | 59% | 61% | 65% |
| IDX | 38% | 38% | 40% |
| Kanary | 16% | 26% | 34% |
| Optery | 52% | 58% | 68% |
| ReputationDefender | 2% | 4% | 6% |
| Manual | 70% | 70% | 70% |
| MyDataRemoval | 85% | 71% | 73% |
Understanding the Discrepancies
| People Search Sites | Profiles removed within 1 week by other competitors | Profiles removed within 1 week by MyDataRemoval | Profiles removed within 1 month by other competitors | Profiles removed within 1 month by MyDataRemoval | Profiles removed within 4 months by other competitors | Profiles removed within 4 months by MyDataRemoval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BeenVerified | 32% | 50% | 48% | 33% | 55% | 50% |
| CheckPeople | 13% | 100% | 13% | 83% | 16% | 100% |
| ClustrMaps | 50% | 100% | 50% | 50% | 59% | 83% |
| Dataveria | 31% | 100% | 31% | 100% | 31% | 100% |
| Intelius | 13% | 0% | 20% | 50% | 20% | 33% |
| MyLife | 32% | 100% | 32% | 100% | 36% | 50% |
| Nuwber | 35% | 50% | 38% | 50% | 42% | 50% |
| PeopleFinders | 53% | 100% | 66% | 83% | 66% | 100% |
| PublicDataUSA | 12% | 100% | 12% | 67% | 19% | 67% |
| Radaris | 28% | 100% | 31% | 83% | 31% | 83% |
| Spokeo | 29% | 100% | 29% | 50% | 39% | 83% |
| ThatsThem | 38% | 100% | 42% | 67% | 58% | 50% |
| Whitepages | 45% | 100% | 45% | 100 | 48% | 100% |
We Can Do Better
We acknowledging that 70% effectiveness is not good enough. We will continue to audit our removals until we get into the 90s if not 100%. We will update this post with our future audits to show how we are doing.
When anyone signs up for MyDataRemoval, they need to know that their data will be removed.
Conclusion
In response to this article, we did our own audit. We found we were more effective than any of the other services. We also found we have room for improvement.
Stay tuned for our monthly audit results, published here, to track our progress towards making your personal information private once again.
Don't wait to protect your privacy—contact us today at hello@mydataremoval.com to learn more about our services or to start your journey to a more private online presence. You can also reach out to us directly at (855) 700-2914. Subscribe to our updates and stay informed about the latest in data privacy and how you can keep your information secure.
Updates
| Audit date | Profiles removed within 1 week | Profiles removed within 1 month | Profiles removed within 4 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8/9/2024 | 85% | 71% | 73% |
| 9/9/2024 | 85% | 78% | 92% |
| 10/9/2024 | 59% | 81% | 90% |
| 11/9/2024 | 77% | 81% | 90% |
| 12/9/2024 |