DeleteMe Review: Can it Remove Digital Footprint?

You may grow worried if you realize just how much information about you may be out there on the web.

It’s really hard to tell on your own who has your data, and even harder to get rid of it, but there are specialized services to help you with that.

Today we’ll review Deleteme, an anti-tracking tool that promises to erase your digital footprint.

We’ll explain everything from how DeleteMe works to whether is it safe or not, and much more.

Let’s get started.

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What is DeleteMe

DeleteMe is a service that helps individuals remove their photos, names, ages, locations, emails, occupations, marital statuses, and so much more from apps and websites.

Here’s how DeleteMe achieves this:

The company’s team of experts works by contacting data brokers on your behalf and requesting that they remove your personal information. 

Once this is done, DeleteMe will send you a report that shows which data brokers have removed your information and which ones have not. 

It doesn’t stop there! These experts will also continue to monitor the data brokers and request that they remove your information if it is ever re-posted.

What are data brokers?

Are you wondering who the data brokers are?

A data broker is a company that collects and sells personal information about individuals. They get their data from a variety of sources, including:

• Public records: Information like your name, address, and date of birth. Data brokers get this information from government websites and so on.
• Commercial data: This includes data about your spending habits, interests, and online behavior. They get these from retailers, credit card companies, and websites.
• Surveys: Data brokers sometimes conduct surveys to collect information about people’s opinions and habits.
• Web tracking: These brokers use web tracking technologies to collect information about the websites you visit, the pages you view, and the links you click.

Let’s paint a picture of how data brokers operate:

→ When you create an account on a website the site has access to various information such as your name, email address, phone number, home address, and so on.

Also, like any person who’s used the internet, you probably agree to a privacy policy within seconds, without really knowing what kind of data you give access to. 

Or if you don’t you may have done it at some point.

Do that a few times, and tons of info about you is on the web. Then, the data brokers get hold of your data or purchase it from some websites and sell it to companies. 

Then, these companies can use your data for various purposes, including targeted advertising and risk assessment.

If you don’t want something of such to happen, that is where DeleteMe comes in.

How does DeleteMe work?

DeleteMe uses a simple yet detailed process to erase your digital footprint off the web. 

Below is a breakdown of how DeleteMe works:

• Sign up: In this phase, you will provide your name, email address, phone, and some basic information about yourself.
• Submission of details: Then you will submit the data you want DeleteMe to remove from search engines.
• Removal process: DeleteMe has a team of experts who will contact data brokers and websites to request that your information be removed from the internet.

Once DeleteMe has finished removing your data, you will receive a detailed report within seven days. It will show you which websites and the type of information that was removed.

It doesn’t stop there:

Unless you unsubscribe from the service, DeleteMe will continue to monitor and scan the internet for your info every three months. 

If the team finds that your data has been re-posted, they will work to remove it again.

DeleteMe reports review

The company sends a standardized type of report to its users.

Let’s discuss each part of the DeleteMe report in detail:

1. The introduction

Here, the company submits an overview of the action it took after your submission, how long the process lasted, and what you should expect in the report.

It goes ahead to inform you about the listings that are pending and the duration of time your information on these sources will clear out. 

Moreover, DeleteMe assures you at the end of the introduction that it will continue to do everything to protect your data and privacy.

This is what the introduction would look like:

2. Listing statistics

This part is a summary of the report in numbers. It displays the year you joined DeleteMe, your plan type, your privacy advisor, and for how long the company has protected your data.

Furthermore, it shows whenDeleteMe carried out the last scan, the total number of your listing and the brokers that have your information, and the broker with the most information about you.

It also informs you about both the time saved searching and removing your data from online sources. Finally, it contains the sum of all your Personal Identifiable Information (PII) it discovered.

3. Changes from the previous report

This section only shows you the changes since the last time DeleteMe scanned and deleted your information. It also informs you of the new brokers that were added to your list.

4. Report findings

The report findings section carries the results of the scanning and deleting of your data from public record sites like Truthfinder, Vericora, and so on.

It shows you detailed reports of all the websites, brokers, and online sources it extracted your information from and the type of information – whether it was your address, name, or email.

DeleteMe also goes ahead to tell you about the pending deletion and when you should expect total removal for some of the brokers and websites.

5. What’s next

At the end of the report, you will see the day your next report will be sent to you and a link to a relevant blog post or news on data privacy.

DeleteMe privacy and security review

Due to the nature of their service, DeleteMe has to collect information like your number, contact, address, email, online activity, and so much more.

This is why many people are skeptical and wonder if DelteMe is legitimate and can be trusted with your data.

DeleteMe assures users that it does not sell their details as it is not a data broker but describes in its privacy policy how it uses customers’ information.

For example, DeleteMe mainly uses your information to offer its services, for research, and also to send you marketing and promotional communications.

However, it doesn’t end there:

To comply with the law, prevent fraud, and safety, DeleteMe may, without your consent, share your data with the government, and authorities on request if you are suspected of a crime.

DeleteMe recommends that users manage access to the computer and devices where they logged in to the DeleteMe app. 

Although DeleteMe implements technologies meant to protect users’ information, it cannot guarantee that the data will not be hacked or intercepted by others.

Under California law, California residents are entitled to ask DeleteMe for a notice identifying the categories of personal customer information that they share with certain third parties. 

There’s also a part of this policy document that is dedicated to European users. This part of the policy respects the GDPR law and users have the right to their information.

DeleteMe pricing review

There’s something you should know:

DeleteMe does not offer free trials and its price is relatively high compared to similar services like Incogni and Kanary.

However, it allows users to carry out a free scan to see if any of their information will come up in the 40 most popular data brokers. But, it will not conduct any removal for you afterward.

In addition to these, the company awards its customers a $50 Amazon gift card for every successful referral.

Additionally, DeleteMe can refund you if you end your subscription before getting your first report. 

DeleteMe subscriptions

Now, let’s review the pricing of this service. DeleteMe operates using three basic plans that it bills both monthly and annually.

Here is the list of all the basic plans:

• Standard Protection (1 year, 1 person) – $10.75 per month, $129 per year.
• Most Popular (1 year, 2 persons) – $19.08 per month, $229 per year.
• Best Value (2 years, 2 persons) – $14.54 per month, $349 per two years.

In addition to these plans, DeleteMe has premium offers users can only get by requesting them from customer support. They are the Gold, Diamond, Platinum, and VIP.

Below is the breakdown for each of them:

• Gold – $180 yearly (addition of 60 extra sites and sends report six times a year)
• Diamond – $425 yearly (extra 65 websites, data masking controls, and reports six times a year).
• Platinum – $1000 yearly ( includes 75 more brokers, a Google search scrub by a professional in the DeleteMe team, and reports once a month).

The VIP membership comes with all the offerings of the Platinum plan with an additional 100 data brokers.

Whichever subscription you choose would depend on how far you want DeleteMe to go in sniffing out your information. 

DeleteMe

Don’t let your personal information linger online! Use DeleteMe to erase all of your data for increased privacy!

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How to opt out of data brokers?

If you are stuck on how to withdraw yourself or information from data brokers on your own or through DeleteMe, this section covers that thoroughly.

Let’s dive right into it:

How to opt out of data brokers using DeleteMe 

It’s super easy to opt out of websites that sell your information through DeleteMe. All you have to do is submit the details you wish to remove to DeleteMe and the company will take it from there.

It will reach out to different data brokers and ask them to delete whatever personal data of you they have in their possession and boom! You don’t exist on the internet anymore.

How to opt out of data brokers manually 

Maybe you don’t have extra money to spare for DeleteMe services and you want to take on the task by yourself. It is still possible. 

Firstly, you have to find all the data brokerage websites that have your information. Then, you opt out of each of them by clicking on the control information or opt-out button.

The downside of this option is that it will waste your time and you may end up not knowing how many data brokers have your information. Also, you won’t have a detailed report like the one from DeleteMe.

DeleteMe customer service review

Without proper support, any business is sure to have confused customers and a truckload of bad reviews. DeleteMe understands this concept and does its best to respond to its users fast.

The company’s support team is always available between Monday-Friday from 9 am to 8 pm Eastern Time and typically responds within 24 hours.

Anyone can reach them through these media:

• Phone number: 1-833-335-3836
• Direct Email: [email protected]

Although DeleteMe has a social media presence on LinkedIn and Twitter, it responds to issues faster through phone calls or email. Its support team can also set up a live chat when there are so many customers in the queue.

Also, it is worthy of note that the company will take time to respond if you reach out to them outside the specified work hours.

In conclusion, DeleteMe customer support is reliable when you are in dire need of guidance while using this service.

Conclusion – Is DeleteMe worth it?

Despite DeleteMe’s high subscription cost and the company requiring your personal information to effectively carry out its services, it is worth it. That’s because, at the end of it all, your data would be off the internet.

Apart from that, it would not keep you in the dark about its activities as you’ll receive reports monthly or quarterly depending on your plan. Now, with this DeleteMe review, you’ll get to know the pros and cons of the service.

Launched in 2011 by Albine Inc., DeleteMe has been on a mission to help its customers reduce the risk of identity theft, credit card fraud, robocalls, spam, stalking, and cybersecurity threats.

Aside from that, the company has hit major milestones since its inception. For example, in 2012 it contributed to the development of the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights Act.