I have been looking into data removal tools like Mozilla Monitor and Incogni, which charge a monthly price to remove your data from data broker sites. According to Mozilla, all they need is your name, bday, and address. I know doing this myself would be more efficient, but I don’t have that much free time on my hands.
I already take source preventative measures like using alternative OSes, always on VPN, using foss/privacy friendly apps and software etc. so all that is really out there is likely to be just government or job related information. If my threat model is simply anti-corporate data harvesting, security against convenience crimes, and basic privacy, how valuable are services like this? Are they worth just paying 1 month for and then cancelling?
I’m extremely sceptical about any such service. They require your personal information, so they can prove your identity to delete it elsewhere. I get the argument, but this is giving your stuff to yet another organisation.
Not only that.
Imagine the communication between the service provider and the organisation you want your data removed from.
How do you know that the service provider doesn’t provide all your identity data to that organisation to identify you, so they can remove your email address. What’s to stop the organisation creating a record in their private database with all your details, when previously they had just your email address?
Just because your data is visible with a Google search, doesn’t mean that this represents all records pertaining to you. Adding data and sharing it around just exacerbates the issue.
I stay well clear.