DeleteMe Review: The Swiss Army Knife of Data Removal Services

René Ramos/CNET

DeleteMe takes a unique approach to privacy compared to its competitors. In addition to automated opt-out requests sent to data brokers and people-finder sites, DeleteMe gives you other privacy features to help protect your identity online at no additional charge. I found DeleteMe useful for protecting my info beyond just removing it from data brokers and people-finder sites, making it a data privacy toolkit as much as a removal service.

DeleteMe has an easy-to-understand dashboard that showed how many sources it had reviewed and how many times it successfully removed my data. It also offers subscribers additional privacy tools at no extra cost, like email, phone number and credit card masking, unlike any other data removal service I looked at. DeleteMe told CNET in a video call that it hopes to offer more protective features in the future, making this a great choice for folks looking for a proactive data removal service rather than a reactive one.

However, DeleteMe isn’t quite as transparent as other services about the data removal process. It doesn’t provide screenshots of where it found your information or show you detailed activity logs. But the extra features more than make up for this lack of activity logs in my opinion, especially since you still see removal details in your reports. 

Plans, prices and value: One plan with all the bells and whistles

DeleteMe, like EasyOptOuts, keeps things simple with one plan. This plan is $129 a year and includes a handful of privacy features in addition to automated and custom removals. You can bundle the service for two people ($229 annually) or four people ($329 annually), or sign up for a two-year subscription, but you get the same features regardless.

If you’re confident you’ll stick with the service long term, DeleteMe offers its two-year subscriptions at a discounted rate. For example, a two-year subscription for the single-user plan costs $209, saving you roughly $50. DeleteMe is the only service I tried that offered two-year subscription options, in addition to single-year plans.

Performance and efficacy: Slightly below average removal performance per third-party testing

When selecting a data removal service, you’ll want to consider the sources it deletes your information from and how effectively it removes your data. In its 2024 tests, Consumer Reports found that DeleteMe was a mid-level performer in all benchmarks when compared to other services it assessed, like EasyOptOuts and Kanary.

At the four-month benchmark, DeleteMe had removed about 27% of online profiles, which was a little below the average of 35%. The highest removal success rate after four months in these lab tests went to Optery at 68%, while Confidently had the lowest at 4%. But keep in mind that different services cover different numbers of data brokers, so those percentages aren’t always directly comparable. DeleteMe, for example, covers more sites than most other data removal services.

Each plan covers up to 976 data brokers and people finder sites, but at least 560 of those entries require custom removals. That means DeleteMe doesn’t automatically scan those sources for your information. You have to find the information on those sites and submit it to DeleteMe so the service can remove it. However, that high number of custom removals isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

Sending removal requests to niche sites — in one example, a Missouri funeral home — could give your info to a source that didn’t have it. Data retention laws might require holding on to such emails with your info, which could then be leaked in a data breach. Custom removals can help stop a service from unintentionally spreading your data rather than removing it.

DeleteMe focuses its automated removal efforts on some of the major data brokers many people would likely be found on, like Spokeo.

Note: Data removal efficacy is complex

Data removal services can be tricky to evaluate. For instance, it’s important to consider both efficacy — how effective a company is at removing your data — as well as how many sources it removes your data from. In my experience, this can be difficult to truly gauge. Some companies boast about hundreds or thousands of data removals from just as many sources, but the numbers aren’t always apples-to-apples. One company might send a data removal request to a conglomerate of data brokers and people finder sites, counting that as one removal, whereas another company might count that as dozens or hundreds of removals. These data removal service reviews attempt to balance both measures.

Usability: A toolkit of privacy features for you to use

Using DeleteMe is a mostly hands-off experience, but the service offers useful tools that can help keep your info away from data brokers in the first place, rather than relying on asking those sources to remove data once they have it.

The setup process is pretty standard fare: DeleteMe asks you for basic information, like name and age, but after setting up your account, you can edit or add more information by clicking your name on the left side of the dashboard and then clicking Review Your Information. From here, you can add up to five alternate names, such as a maiden name, add past addresses and view and sign a Limited Power of Attorney.

Signing a Limited Power of Attorney authorizes DeleteMe to act in your place in instances where data brokers may not otherwise honor opt-out requests from third-party services. Not all of the data removal services I looked at offered this option, so DeleteMe should be able to remove your data from those irksome sources. 

You can see the number of data broker and people-finder sites DeleteMe has reviewed on your behalf, as well as how many exposures the service removed, from your dashboard. The dashboard also shows these trends over time in the form of line graphs, but other details are available in your privacy reports, which can be found near the top of your dashboard. Privacy reports are also emailed to subscribers.

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DeleteMe includes more additional security features than any other service I reviewed. You can find these features by clicking Privacy Tools on the left side of your dashboard. DeleteMe offers all subscribers phone number, email address and credit card number masking. All of these either let you set up forwarding aliases or virtual card numbers you can use around the internet. But note that virtual cards have a $10 minimum and a $500 maximum, so you can use this for smaller online purchases, like a couple of new books or video games, but you won’t be able to use this to buy things like a new PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.

These features let you still use services, and they can help prevent spam calls, texts and emails from reaching your inboxes and should help keep things like your email and phone number out of data brokerages. I like that DeleteMe offers these sorts of preventative tools at no extra charge, rather than exclusively focusing on data removal like most other services or charging an additional fee for access to similar features. Kanary offers similar email and phone number decoys, but those cost extra on top of the regular subscription price.

DeleteMe said in a video call with CNET that it was looking to add other privacy features to help protect your information in the real world in the future, as well. So if you want to take steps to keep your information from ending up in data brokers in the first place, DeleteMe offers great tools for that job.

Removal transparency: Privacy reports shed light on removals, but no activity history

DeleteMe delivers solid transparency, showing you how many exposures the service removed in your dashboard, but I’d like to see an activity history letting you know when and where your data was found, something to indicate when your data was removed or one of those things. The dashboard illustrates historic trends in the form of line graphs, and DeleteMe’s privacy reports, while mostly standard, provide more details compared to the dashboard.

Privacy reports give you a comprehensive look at where your information was found and what data was found there. In certain instances, these reports will link to where DeleteMe found your information, but not always, and it’s a little difficult to tell which data sources have links. The link button is small and easy to overlook, a nearly unnoticeable light orange color on a gray background next to the words Removal in Progress. I wish these links were larger or more pronounced and just easier to see.

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Clicking those links takes you to where DeleteMe found your information. In some instances, the links took me to pages that either displayed my information, showed information that was close to but not mine or showed me the landing page of that data broker or people finder site. 

Because data brokers and people-finder sites constantly collect and aggregate information, it’s possible that opt-out requests from data removal services like DeleteMe were successful, but the source collected my information again. That’s part of why I value services that have screenshots of where your information was found or detailed activity histories. 

Unfortunately, DeleteMe doesn’t offer screenshots or a detailed activity history. Not many services offer both, but most services I reviewed offered one or the other in some form. 

Privacy and security: The company’s history makes DeleteMe easy to trust

DeleteMe’s privacy policy is longer than the policies of its competitors, namely EasyOptOuts’ and Kanary’s, but ultimately isn’t scary. And the company’s history of advocacy gives me confidence that it’s genuinely invested in protecting its subscribers’ information. Similarly, it undergoes System and Organization Controls audits, which analyze company data security and financial practices, which are key trust indicators to look for — nearly every data removal company I reviewed was SOC 2 audited.

DeleteMe writes in its privacy policy under General Data Disclosures that it doesn’t sell your data, and it limits disclosing your personal data “under strict contractual terms and only for legitimate business purposes.” It goes on to say it may share your information with social media platforms if you connect your accounts and share your information with those platforms. But you don’t have to connect these accounts.

DeleteMe also writes under Retention that it has a six-month data retention period, in case you delete your account and want to come back. It’s one of the longest retention periods I’ve seen a data removal service employ. Compared to services with shorter retention policies, it creates a longer window for your data to be leaked in a potential data breach, even after you delete your account.

However, there is a way to delete your account faster. In your dashboard, near the bottom of the Settings page, there’s a section called Data Privacy. From there, you can email the DeleteMe support team to request a deletion, and once the team receives your email, they will get to work deleting your account, identity information, documents and all associated records. 

I don’t like that I need to do extra steps in order to delete my information from DeleteMe if I remove my account. I wish DeleteMe employed an almost negligible retention policy, similar to those used by EasyOptOuts and Optery. 

If DeleteMe is bought or acquired by another company, the service writes that it will inform its users, and that any successor organization is required to handle your information in accordance with DeleteMe’s privacy policy or in a similar manner. Unlike the data retention policy, I do appreciate this policy. It ensures that your data is protected if DeleteMe is acquired by another company, and it won’t be sold or shared by the new company.

DeleteMe appears to be truly invested in protecting people’s data. The company celebrated the passage of the California Delete Act, which is intended to help people delete the information data brokers have about them and allow people to take more control over the sale of their personal information.

“This is an important win for consumer privacy in the United States,” Rob Shavell, CEO of DeleteMe, said in 2023 after California passed the legislation.

Customer support: One of the fastest email support response times 

DeleteMe has some of the most robust and quickest customer support options of all the data removal services I reviewed. If you need help with your DeleteMe account, you can call, email or message, fill out a web form or check the service’s FAQ page. Many services I tried had frequently asked questions pages and email support, but few had more than that. And in my testing, DeleteMe had the fastest response time.

You might find the answers to your questions in DeleteMe’s support page, which has options for Business Account Administration, Member Experience and FAQs. The first two options can help you troubleshoot your respective accounts, while the last can answer questions you might have about certain features.

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If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for here, you can either call, message or email DeleteMe’s customer support. I reached out to DeleteMe via email and found the support team speedy and helpful. I emailed DeleteMe about not having access to a feature, and less than 10 minutes later, the team responded and let me know when I should regain access. Other services I tested usually responded to email requests within the hour, but under 10 minutes was the fastest response time I saw.

DeleteMe also has a subreddit, but it is mostly filled with guides on how to opt yourself out of different data brokerages and how to delete social media accounts, as well as links to data privacy legislation. The community may not be as helpful for subscribers as the subreddits for other services like Kanary, but it’s a good data privacy resource anyone can use to start removing their data from data brokers, people-finder sites and social media sites.

Final thoughts

What I appreciate most about DeleteMe is all the different data privacy tools it provides. The service offers more privacy features at no additional cost for subscribers than any rival I reviewed. Even nonsubscribers can benefit from the DeleteMe subreddit since it provides opt-out guides for major data brokers. 

However, you won’t find a detailed activity history or screenshots verifying your removals, making DeleteMe less transparent than some competitors, like Incogni. Some other services offer at least one of these features, making it easy to see how much work has been done on your behalf. DeleteMe’s privacy reports do show your information that it found and where, as well as how much time it would have taken to send all the opt-out requests it sent for you, but I still would have liked to see an activity history. The nature of data broker and people-finder sites means those sources are constantly collecting your data, and an activity history is a nice way to see how fast your data repopulates and is removed from those sources.

If you want a more proactive approach to keeping your information away from data brokers, DeleteMe is for you. But if you’re shopping for data removal on a budget or looking for higher success rates in third-party testing, services like EasyOptOuts or Optery are a better bet.