The Ultimate Guide to Internet Scrubbing Services

Internet scrubbing services have become vital weapons in the battle to control your personal data. These services help you systematically remove sensitive information from dozens of online data brokers, people search sites, and databases.

Whether you’re concerned about identity theft, finding a job, or just want to minimize your digital breadcrumbs, understanding scrubbing is key to managing privacy in the internet age.

In this comprehensive guide examining internet scrubbing services through an expert tech geek lens, we’ll cover:

• How scrubbing services work and what they target
• Statistical context around data broker risks
• The top 10 services ranked in detail
• Evaluation criteria for choosing a provider
• Steps individuals can take to protect personal information
• Role of scrubbing in preventing identity theft
• Common opt-out hurdles and solutions
• Relevant privacy laws and regulations
• An overview explaining opt-out processes
• Managing and monitoring your digital footprint
• And more…

Let’s dig in!

What is an Internet Scrubbing Service?

Internet scrubbing services help individuals take control of their personal information floating around on the web.

Also referred to as data deletion or data removal services, these providers specialize in getting sensitive details like your phone number, home address, age, political affiliation, browsing history and more removed from various online sources.

Top data categories targeted for scrubbing include:

• Data Brokers – Collect and sell consumer information – Acxiom, LexisNexis, etc.
• People Search Sites – Surface personal details via search portals – Spokeo, MyLife, etc.
• Business Data – Transactional and customer information
• Social Networks – Photos, posts and more
• Court Records – Civil, criminal and other public legal cases
• Real Estate Sites – Home listing details
• Marketing Databases

How Internet Scrubbing Services Work

Most scrubbing services utilize a combination of automated technology and manual work to remove your personal information.

The process generally works as follows:

1. Initial Scan – The service scans known databases, public records sites, data brokers, people search engines, and other sources to identify where your personal information appears online. These scans leverage huge catalogs of data sources the services maintain and continuously expand based on extensive research.

2. Queuing Removals – Based on the initial scan, the scrubbing service creates opt-out removal requests for submission to each site and database source featuring your data. The removal requests get queued up then programmatically submitted at the necessary cadence for each data source based on their technical and legal requirements.

3. Ongoing Monitoring – Scrubbing providers continue monitoring sources to ensure removals stick. New opt-out requests get sent if your data reappears. Updates get communicated based on each service‘s standard status dashboard features.

So in summary – automated technology handles the heavy lifting finding and removing personal information initially while specialists handle exception cases and ongoing monitoring.

Why Internet Scrubbing Matters: The Data Broker Risk By The Numbers

Before digging into leading services, it’s helpful to understand the sheer scale of consumer data circulating via data brokers. This provides essential context around removal request importance.

• Number of data brokers operating in the US: 2,500+ Source
• Percentage of US consumer data bought or sold: 87% Source
• Most sensitive categories sold: financial, health, kids, ethnicity, social media Source
• Individual voter registrations sold: $0.015 each Source
• Individual medical records sold: $1000+ each Source

With trillions of consumer data points circulating through semi-regulated channels, it’s virtually impossible to independently remove exposure at scale without assistance.

Top 10 Internet Scrubbing Services

If you’re ready to start regaining control of your personal information from data brokers, these 10 internet scrubbing services provide proven solutions:

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Evaluating the top contenders, Incogni consistently earns top marks providing robust removal automation across a huge source catalog at affordable subscription rates.

Notable Standouts

Incogni – Huge scope of nearly 200 sites expertly removed via automation. Tops for value and privacy protection.

OneRep – Over 196 sources scrubbed. Provides handy mobile app for updates. Most expensive option.

ReputationDefender – Specializes in monitoring and managing full online reputation along with removals.

TruthFinder – Leverages extensive consumer data expertise with extra monitoring reports provided.

Key Capabilities to Review

Comparing capabilities when choosing your scrubbing service allows matching the right solution to your needs and budget.

Top features to examine closely include:

• Site removal scope
• Pricing models (free trial availability, etc)
• Dashboards tracking progress
• Guarantee policy
• Types of consumer data covered
• Customer service availability
• Credibility and company longevity
• Ease of getting started

Prioritizing must-have capabilities allows streamlining options. Budget, quality of updates, and overall convenience represent other essential factors that differ across providers.

Safeguarding Your Data: Pro Tips

While leveraging a scrubbing services works wonders, you shouldn’t stop there protecting your personal information.

Use these tech geek tips in conjunction with scrubbing to lock things down:

• VPN usage – Encrypts traffic so no snooping on public WiFi.

• Unique passwords – Essential first step – no repeats!

• Reset security questions – Avoid common Q&A combos.

• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) – Adds login layer requiring verification code from second device. Drastically boosts account security.

• Caution publishing information publicly – All those fun Facebook quizzes and online forms pose risks.

• Manage social media audiences – Leverage available groups, lists and audience selectors minimizing exposure.

• Check credentials exposed in breaches – Visit HaveIBeenPwned to audit compromised accounts.

Understanding Data Broker Limitations

Blocking data brokers from continuing to circulate your information seems like it should be straightforward. But legitimate business models coupled with regulation holes allow rampant collection and sale of consumer data, often without permission.

Per the infographic below, key limitations successfully opting out of data sharing independently include:

Source: Visual Capitalist

Without specialized software automation afforded by scrubbing services overcoming these hurdles, removing data at scale remains extremely difficult.

Scrubbing Role in Preventing Identity Theft

Internet scrubbing removes the critical raw data identity thieves exploit to commit fraud. Eliminating availability of your name, date of birth, address and other identifiers from data sources makes executing identity theft exponentially harder.

Look at identity theft statistics trending higher annually:

• 44.2 million victims annually
• 324,000+ daily victims
• 1 victim every 3 seconds
• $56 billion annual cost
  (Sources: FTC, Javelin)

Reducing your digital footprint through scrubbing minimizes risk that your credentials fall into the wrong hands.

Common Identity Theft Sources

So how do thieves snatch consumer personal information in bulk anyway? Data breaches play a major role alongside the data broker ecosystem.

Check out the spike in records exposed from major breaches just in 2022 – impacting leading retailers, tech providers, hotels, government agencies and healthcare systems:

(Full 2022 breach list)

Even if you diligently safeguard your own sensitive information, data breaches mean credentials like your email, password, or address often get exposed through no direct action of your own.

This makes reactive removal via internet scrubbing so essential reducing potential downstream identity theft based on breached information.

Privacy Regulation Trends Empowering Consumers

While the regulatory playing field around data privacy remains very uneven globally, legislation increasingly shifts leverage to consumers.

• GDPR – The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation passed in 2016 strictly governs data handling for any company processing data of EU residents. GDPR provides consumers right of access and erasure. Fines up to 4% of revenue incent compliance.

• CCPA/CPRA – California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) enabled in 2018 requires companies provide transparency into data collection practices. Consumers gained rights to data access, opting out of sale, and deletion. The 2023 California Privacy Rights Acts (CPRA) further expands protections.

So while inconsistencies remain country to country, regulatory trends firmly point towards empowering individuals with more control over their personal information through consumer privacy laws.

Inside Opt-Out Processes

Given data broker limitations, how do scrubbing services actually execute removals successfully? We can separate methodologies into two buckets:

Automated removal uses intelligent bots to crawl target sites identifying areas to submit standard opt-out forms or leverages site APIs when available. Based on system designs, these removals solve the bulk of use cases.

Manual removal relies on internal staff reviewing exceptions. This often involves customized letter writing to site owners when niche sites get identified or technical hurdles arise that automation can’t resolve independently.

Additionally, internet scrubbing services build automation intelligently understanding nuances submitting requests at necessary cadences meeting site guidelines. Throttling systems prevent overloading targets which helps ensure successful processing.

So in summary, smart technology paired with savvy human oversight when useful drives the removal process effectively overcoming common consumer pitfalls.

Tips for Monitoring Your Digital Footprint

Once you’ve initiated scrubbing procedures, continue monitoring your online exposure with these pointers:

Google yourself – Review search engine results for unwanted personal details

Check people search/background sites – Probe data brokers where visibility matters most

Setup search alerts – Monitor name via Google Alerts and PublicInquiry.net

Leverage browser extensions – Identify/opt-out of data brokers as you surf

Audit social media – Delete old posts with personal info, limit future sharing

Browse anonymously – Prevents new trackers associating activity to you

Search for your phone number, email, home address and usernames in addition to your name while monitoring. This crosses common personal identifiers enabling misuse.

FAQs – Scrubbing Services Clarified

Still have nagging questions on the nuances of internet scrubbing? These responses tackle common points of confusion:

What is an internet scrubbing service?

Scrubbing services help consumers automatically remove personal details like addresses and phone numbers from people search sites, data brokers and databases claimed to protect privacy.

Can I remove all my data from the internet?

Full elimination of your online presence realistically proves impossible. But diligent, ongoing use of a scrubbing solution lets you minimize visibility across top exposure threats.

Are scrubbing services secure options?

Leading solutions invest heavily in data security for customer information as you’d expect with any SaaS platform. But appropriate precautions are still smart no matter what service gets leveraged.

How do these services actually remove my data?

Automation paired with manual oversight covers the bulk of removals. Custom removal letters also prove useful for niche sites. Understanding technical nuances of data deletion helps services maximize effectiveness.

How much do internet scrubbing services cost?

Pricing varies widely from free, entry-level tiers to premium programs costing $500+ yearly covering more identity sources. Many providers land in the $100 to $200 annual range.

Assuming tech geek hat and glasses off and resuming my identity as blogger extraordinaire…

It’s clear carefully designed automation paired with human oversight empowers leading data removal services to help regain control of your online privacy when independently managing opting out yourself falls short.

Services like Incogni analyze target site limitations then programmatically submit deletion requests at necessary cadences for successfully scrubbing top data broker info sources. Reports track progress towards exposure minimization goals.

Reducing availability of identity details like your phone and address insulates from potential identity theft based on exposed credentials. Trends towards stringent consumer privacy regulation also show positive momentum.

While no magic bullet fordicts full elimination of your digital footprint, prudent use of a removal service plus smart sharing habits online combine to effectively shrink online visibility and strengthen privacy.

Weigh popular contender capabilities highlighted here against personal removal needs to determine the best solution match. Then partner ongoing diligence monitoring your footprint with the efficiency of automated data deletion to embrace privacy in the internet age!