The best services for deleting yourself from the internet in 2024

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The moment home internet became accessible, the lines separating your physical and digital identities blurred. Now, work, study, and entertainment are conducted online, and your mobile devices hold the keys to everything from your social media profiles to your bank accounts.

You can't often control the flow of information that leads to your personal data being exposed online. Although you can and should lock down your individual accounts, sometimes you may feel compelled to take an extra step to improve your online security and privacy.

One way to reduce your digital footprint and protect yourself from being so easy to find -- or impersonate -- is to overhaul all the services you use and delete anything you no longer use.

Also: How to delete yourself from internet search results and hide your identity online

Old shopping accounts and social media profiles, mailing list subscriptions, and legacy online service accounts can clutter your email inboxes and, over time, become annoying or embarrassing. Organizations that hold on to your data without cause need to be compelled to delete it. Rather than trying to track the details of each service online that holds onto your data, there are dedicated services that shoulder this task for you.

What's the best service for deleting yourself from the internet right now?

Based on our extensive research, ZDNET's top pick for a service for deleting yourself from the internet is Incogni. Amassing many positive customer reviews, Surfshark's Incogni tackles data removal and data brokers on your behalf and will enforce these requests using applicable data protection laws. Incogni is currently offering a Black Friday promotion, in which you pay the equivalent of $6.29/month if you sign up for an annual plan. Use the Black Friday discount code BFCM24.

Also: Best VPN services

Below, you will find more services we recommend to reduce your online footprint and remove your data from the internet in 2024.

The best services for deleting yourself from the internet in 2024

Incogni

The best data removal service overall

Surfshark's Incogni is a great service for removing yourself from the internet and negotiating with data brokers, and as such, is our top pick.

Once you've signed up, Incogni will send removal requests to a wide array of data brokers and enforce these requests using applicable privacy laws, including GDPR and the CCPA.

The company says that most requests are handled within eight weeks, although some may require action from you. Incogni will also tackle shadow profiles on your behalf.

Regarding pricing, Incogni offers monthly or annual plans. If you opt for an individual monthly plan, you will pay $14.98/month. If you want to pay every year, Incogni's services will cost you $77.78, or $7.49/month. Family plans start at $16.49/month.

However, at the time of writing, you will only pay the equivalent of $6.29/month if you sign up for an individual annual plan. Use the Black Friday discount code BFCM24.

If you're unsure how much information you need removed from the internet, you could opt for the monthly plan and consider a clean-up once or twice a year. There is also a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you find less related to you than you first believed, this service is a great try-before-you-buy option.

Incogni has some of the best customer feedback of all of our recommendations. Customers say they feel the benefit through reduced spam calls and emails -- and that data is removed fast. That said, some reports may not provide as much in-depth information as some users want.

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DeleteMe

The best user-friendly service for data removal

DeleteMe has earned many positive customer reviews, and it's easy to see why. This extremely user-friendly option will help you remove your sensitive and personal information from online sources and data brokers while saving you time and effort.

Once you've submitted your information, the organization will search for it online and send removal requests to third parties holding your data. Within seven days, you will receive a report outlining DeleteMe's progress. The company says that, on average, 15 listings of public data belonging to a subject that are searchable via Google are removed within "days."

You can also take advantage of other features, including email and phone masking. As a bonus, in 2024, this service expanded beyond the US and now covers areas including Europe and Canada.

DeleteMe offers a range of plans. These include a subscription for one person, for one year at $10.75/month, or two years at $8.71/month. Other subscriptions include a plan for two individuals for two years, priced at $14.54/month. Family plans begin at $20.79/month.

You can also use DeleteMe's guides if you want to take on the job yourself. Many customers say the service exceeds expectations, but the upfront cost can be daunting.

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Kanary

The best service for family plans

Kanary is another excellent service for cleaning up your online information. Kanary tries to remove search links, data dumps, and sensitive information from the web, all in a 90-day timeline for most removals.

Once you've added your personal data to a user interface or multiple profiles for family members, Kanary will review removal requests and start working on your behalf, although some requests may require manual handling.

Kanary offers a deal for families. There is a free, limited plan that includes a 14-day trial of premium features, an individual plan for $14.99 per month, or family members can be added to the $16.99 per month premium plan for an additional $8.49 per month (or $7.49 per month on annual plans).

Customer feedback indicates that this service is reliable, reports are clear and concise, and the service is valuable for the money.

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PrivacyBee

The best service for enhanced protection

PrivacyBee is another service that can track where your information is and act on your behalf to remove it from companies you don't trust, plus data brokers.

The service also checks and monitors search results to remove sensitive information. Furthermore, you can download a browser extension that displays your data relationship with the sites you visit.

The company is also able to remove you from marketing databases to reduce the volume of spam and mass emails you receive.

Pricing begins at $197 per year, which is an expensive up-front cost that may deter some customers. Still, reviews suggest that the service is secure and thorough.

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Reputation Defender by Norton

The best service for businesses

Reputation Defender by Norton is a tailored service offered to individuals, professionals, executives, and businesses.

This service differs from our other recommendations: it's a personal offering that focuses on managing and cleaning up reputations, which could include online data removal and deletion of information held by data brokers and people-search websites.

Norton's offering includes data management, reputation management, personal branding assistance, privacy alerts, regular scanning, and search result management.

Prices for Reputation Defender by Norton are available upon request, as the work is personalized to your circumstances. The company offers a free consultation, and customers say the support team handles sensitive situations well.

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Below, you will find some of the main features of each of our recommendations.

Best data removal service	Price	Conducts data removal/opt-out requests?	Free trial?	Personalized solutions?
Incogni	$6.29+/month	✓	X	x
DeleteMe	$8.71+/month	✓	X (scan only)	x
Kanary	Free or $15+/month	✓ (limited free plan)	✓	x
PrivacyBee	$197/year	✓	X (scan only)	x
Reputation Defender by Norton	On request	✓	X	✓

Choose this top data removal service...	If you want…
Incogni	Our top pick for an affordable solution to protect yourself and your data. Incogni provides a one-stop-shop solution for data protection and managing data brokers.
DeleteMe	To have information removed from search engines. You submit the information you want removed, and DeleteMe will do the rest. DeleteMe is a great choice for in-depth data removal.
Kanary	Protection for more than one person. Kanary provides great value for families that want their personal data monitored online. 90 days should be enough for most data removal requests.
PrivacyBee	To choose what companies you trust. PrivacyBee allows you to select companies you are comfortable holding your data, as well as select organizations that you want to delete your information from their records.
Reputation Defender by Norton	A reputation manager. Reputation Defender is best suited to high-profile individuals and businesses that need constant data leak monitoring and reputation protection.

When choosing the best services for deleting yourself from the internet, we considered a number of factors, including:

Price: While selecting the best services, we wanted to provide various options, including affordable subscriptions and plans. Depending on your needs, signing up can be a long-term investment, so we have included a variety of data removal solutions with different price points and contract periods. Removal: We focused on services that can scan, monitor, and check online databases and data broker repositories for your personal information and then work on your behalf to have it removed. After all, if you're paying for a service, you should be able to expect the challenging parts of the process to be handled for you.Protection: The services listed above also include protective features that may reduce the likelihood of personalized spam calls and phishing emails, as well as trolling, stalking, or identity theft. You may also want, for example, to combine automatic data removal with data breach alerts and antivirus software. Frequency: We also ensure that our recommended services can conduct frequent scans on your behalf. While you may just want one check and deletion, our information is constantly changing hands -- and this means that your data could reappear online eventually. Reports: The services we recommend will often provide reports with each scan to keep you updated on where your data was found, what has been deleted, and potentially what your next steps should be.Free trials and features: We have included data removal solutions that offer free reports and snapshots of your data exposure, allowing you to make the right choice before signing up for a plan. While free trials are uncommon, some of our recommendations offer free, limited plans or trial periods.

There are numerous steps you can take to stop your name from appearing in internet search results and through engines, including Google and Bing, but it can be a complicated and time-consuming process. Below are some steps to help you get started.

Use a search engine: Your first action should be to type in your name, nicknames, and online handles into search engines. This step will reveal the information that anyone can easily find on you and can help you plan your next steps, including which companies you may need to contact to have data removed or what accounts to delete.Lock down or delete social media accounts: Deletion is the nuclear option, but most social media platforms will have an option to stop your profile from appearing in search engine results. As our profiles -- even if they are publicly limited -- can contain our photos, full name, and more, removing them from search engine queries can help reduce our online footprint. For step-by-step guides, visit Facebook, Instagram, and X.Delete old, unused accounts: Whether it's shopping sites, social media networks, or forums, each service you use -- or have used -- may tie your online identity to your name, nicknames, or PII, all of which could be at risk if a data breach occurs. If you do not want to use a dedicated service, consider going through your email and password managers to find active accounts. You will need to access them and request removal manually.Clean up forum posts: Forums can often be overlooked, but if someone finds out the handles you commonly use, they may be able to find content connected to you -- which could now be completely irrelevant to the person you are today, or embarrassing if exposed. Delete old forum posts and preferably remove your accounts entirely. Contact webmasters: If you have old accounts that do not have auto-delete features, contact webmasters directly to have your profiles and data deleted. This process will likely be easier if you are in an area covered by regulations such as the EU's GDPR.Request that people finder websites delete your information: People finder websites can be used as "search engines" to look up someone based on their name, phone number, and other personal information, which can be a privacy nightmare. Opting out and forcing the removal of your information from these organizations, which may buy it from data brokers, can be a challenging process to perform manually as it may require contacting each service individually to negotiate. If these organizations prove to be difficult, deletion could also require an understanding of applicable privacy and data protection laws to enforce your requests. Consider using a service such as Incogni or DeleteMe to do the legwork for you.Deactivate email accounts: Our email accounts tend to be the core platform that ties your digital profile together, but once they're gone, they're gone. When you are ready, delete your email accounts, which will break the common threads between your online services. Only take this step if you are sure.

You can, although the process is limited and your request may be rejected if the company doesn't believe there are grounds for removal.

You will need to contact Google using this form, requesting to remove information you see or asking to prevent information from appearing in Google search results. Removal requests can also be made for:

Exposed personal identifiable information (PII)Explicit images, including adult contentInvoluntary, fake pornographyImages of minorsInformation from websites with "exploitive" removal practices, such as those that demand payment

In some cases -- for example, a request to remove links to law enforcement statements or media articles concerning an individual and a prosecution -- Google may refuse, as such information could be in the public interest. If Google refuses, it will provide a reason for its decision.

There are numerous ways you can protect your identity online. Experts recommend securing personal information, locking down your social media accounts to friends and connections only, using antivirus software, regularly updating programs and software, and changing your passwords on a regular basis.

Furthermore, if you find "clones" of your identity -- such as a fake Facebook or dating app profile -- ensure you report the fake account to associated online services.

If you suspect your data has been leaked online, use the Have I Been Pwned service to see if you have been involved in any data breaches.

To remove your name from social media, you'll have to follow some basic steps. First, change your name to a nickname or surname that isn't linked to your true name. This should ensure that photos or linked content will also change.

Next, switching all of your content to private can keep it away from search engines and individual search queries. You can also delete all of your accounts, and potentially file a Google request to remove content connected to you (although this is not always going to be accepted, especially if such information is considered in the public interest.)

The majority of search engines will log your search queries, and some will use this information to tailor ads and recommendations. If you want to keep your search queries hidden, we recommend using DuckDuckGo, which offers a free search engine that does not log your activities -- or, for extra privacy, use its browser.

There's no easy way, and unfortunately, it is often outside our control. Just look at HaveIBeenPwned to see the vast troves of data posted online due to company data breaches. Taking our records out of this quagmire is not feasible.

Instead of chasing removal, the best thing you can do is to see what information has been leaked and make it redundant. For example, if an email and password combination for an online service has been exposed, change it immediately for that service -- as well as any other platforms using the same set -- and never use that combination again. Using multi-factor authentication can also prevent your online accounts from being compromised.

While the services above for deleting yourself from the internet are ZDNET's top picks and are what we consider to be the best solutions on the market, there are many other options available. Here are other choices that might suit what you're looking for.