Editorial Policy

How I Test

Every service reviewed here is one I paid for and ran against my own name and address in Austin, Texas, for a minimum of four to six weeks. The testing tracks which brokers get removed, which re-list after a confirmed removal, and how the service's own progress reports compare to what a direct search actually shows. If a report marks Spokeo as cleared, I search Spokeo. That step has turned up discrepancies before: monthly summaries showing complete removals for brokers where the listing was still live when I checked.

Re-listing tracking runs past the initial removal window. Data brokers pull from public records and third-party marketing lists on their own refresh cycles, so a removal confirmed at 30 days may not hold at 60 or 90. Each broker gets a re-listing date if it comes back, and the review reflects both the initial coverage count and what happened in the months after. A re-listing a paid service didn't catch goes into the review as a miss.

No service gets reviewed without my paying for it first. No access codes accepted in exchange for coverage. No sponsored reviews.

Affiliate Relationships

Some links here are affiliate links. Click through and subscribe, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. That commission doesn't affect which services get reviewed or how they score. A service that underperforms in testing gets a review that says it underperformed. The re-listing spreadsheet doesn't respond to commission rates.

Scope and Limitations

Testing reflects one data footprint in Austin, Texas. How widely your name is distributed across broker databases, which states you've lived in, and how long your records have been in public systems all affect what a removal service will actually clear for you. Readers in California and several other states may also have different legal standing under data broker opt-out laws than I do as a Texas resident. Nothing published here is legal advice. The site covers what testing showed, not what an attorney would argue on your behalf.

Corrections

If something here is factually wrong or has gone out of date, the contact page is the right place to flag it.