All legal websites must remove your personal information at your request; though companies tend to make this process as convoluted as possible. These companies basically just around to any major websites, and send requests on your behalf.
They don’t. All they do is kindly ask people finder places to remove your data (not even actual data brokers!) which is something you yourself can do for free with a few hours of free time
Those companies have basically automated the process of requesting removal of your information from all the major data brokerages, tied together with automated follow ups to ensure compliance.
You, as an individual, could go to all those data brokerages and ask them, but there is something like an estimated 4,000 data brokers around the world right now, so you cannot realistically spend your time chasing all of them.
Your question could be considered ambiguous due to you using the term security companies, but I’ll assume you’re referring to data deletion services.
Data deletion services are a relatively new service offering. They don’t do anything you cannot do yourself. They’ve done the legwork by acquiring the contact and process information to opt-out from the brokers. With some exceptions that is something the brokers voluntarily comply with, because regulation is all but non-existent in the USA. Their utility is questionable, because some brokers including major ones (such as Intellius) won’t respond to 3rd party requests.
There are “security” companies, to use your term, that can take care of removing data on the Internet. These aren’t approachable for most people. They use terms like privacy consultants and reputation management. These services run into the thousands. And of course, there are fixer-type services available to the elites. They do stuff and they do it effectively. I’ll leave it at that.
Comments
They send data brokers cease and desist letters on your behalf.
They don’t find or remove it. They are just the middle men who organise it to be removed
They basically ask the people who do hold it (data brokers) to remove it on your behalf
If data is elsewhere like on the dark Web, then it’s not coming off
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All legal websites must remove your personal information at your request; though companies tend to make this process as convoluted as possible. These companies basically just around to any major websites, and send requests on your behalf.
I know reputation MGMT companies just bury bad stuff with schlock.
They don’t. All they do is kindly ask people finder places to remove your data (not even actual data brokers!) which is something you yourself can do for free with a few hours of free time
Those companies have basically automated the process of requesting removal of your information from all the major data brokerages, tied together with automated follow ups to ensure compliance.
You, as an individual, could go to all those data brokerages and ask them, but there is something like an estimated 4,000 data brokers around the world right now, so you cannot realistically spend your time chasing all of them.
Your question could be considered ambiguous due to you using the term security companies, but I’ll assume you’re referring to data deletion services.
Data deletion services are a relatively new service offering. They don’t do anything you cannot do yourself. They’ve done the legwork by acquiring the contact and process information to opt-out from the brokers. With some exceptions that is something the brokers voluntarily comply with, because regulation is all but non-existent in the USA. Their utility is questionable, because some brokers including major ones (such as Intellius) won’t respond to 3rd party requests.
There are “security” companies, to use your term, that can take care of removing data on the Internet. These aren’t approachable for most people. They use terms like privacy consultants and reputation management. These services run into the thousands. And of course, there are fixer-type services available to the elites. They do stuff and they do it effectively. I’ll leave it at that.