Data Removal Services?

Fear Corn mostly.

I personally don't like these services, you give a lot of info to send silly little emails and to fill forms, that is often outsourced to click farms in places like Bangladesh.

More often than not, websites agree to these removal requests, but in the process, you increased your exposure instead of decreasing it, as you trusted the parties that do not deserve anyone’s trust to begin with.

The first step is always to google / brave search your name and delete accounts you may not even remember creating. You should replace the personal data with fake info before deletion.

If you do this till page 4 or so, you will be lot less exposed and your future self will thank you for it.

And then, there are these entities that go by titles like “data broker”, they collaborate and collect info that you may not even remember providing.

Almost every “privacy” company is launching their version of data removal service these days, but I don't think they are approaching this problem from the right angle.

The correct approach is to build an app that runs locally on your device and programmatically sends the DMCA's and fill opt-out forms. (hence your data never leaves your personal device)

People at redact.dev are working on something like this, and their ceo, Dan plans to launch the beta at the end of this month.

He told me, it would be somewhat similar to what DDG provides, but far better and more comprehensive. (personally I haven't used what DDG provides nor do I like the search engine, nor the company)

I like redact.dev's redacting service as it is, this would be icing on the cake.

I will lay down in the next few sections what tools and forms you should use, to find the places where your data shouldn't have been, and where to file for its removal.

DIY is the most comprehensive aproach and even if you use a service, you should DIY from time to time; because when push comes to shove, its not humans vs machines, its humans & machines.

Seal the Data Leaks