Business
2023 My Data Removal Transparency Report
Jan. 22, 2024 / James Wilson
The purpose of this report is to let you peek behind the curtain to see what is going on at My Data Removal. With so many companies these days being completely online, it has become common to never meet in person the people who provide you with goods and services. We do miss that personal touch and the confidence and trust that interacting face-to-face can provide. And so we wanted to provide this transparency report as a way for you to get to know us a little better. We plan on providing a transparency report each January going forward.
We started My Data Removal in late 2020 as we became more and more uncomfortable with how we were seeing our own data being used online. We are thrilled to be providing a service that is making a real difference in individuals' lives and that so many people are finding it beneficial. We are excited that we have made significant progress in 2023.
We are growing!
The table below shows our growth over the past two years. It feels good to grow! We are already building on this in 2024 and plan on providing increased value to our customers and website visitors.
Company Statistics*
| Category | 2022 | 2023 | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sites scanned | 55,000 | 350,000 | 636% |
| Free scans | 500 | 2,000 | 400% |
| Removals | 8,300 | 38,000 | 458% |
| Total sites covered | 96 | 140 | 145% |
| New blog posts | 32 | 6 | 18% |
| Opt out guides created/updated | 325 | 344 | 105% |
* All categories do not include the previous year's total except for covered sites which is cumulative.
Financial Statistics
| Revenue category | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| % of total revenue from annual subscribers | 44% | 44% |
| % of total revenue from monthly subscribers | 55% | 55% |
| % of revenue from customized data removal services | 1% | 1% |
| Revenue growth | 816% | 33% |
Special note on revenue that we are proud of and want to emphasize: We did not earn any revenue from things that would compromise our customers' privacy. This includes the common practices of selling or sharing customer data and embedding invasive tracking cookies on our website. We will continue to prioritizeour customers' privacy and never participate in these practices, as this is against our principles.
Ownership and funding
We do not have any external funding and are not backed by venture capital or any company. Early on, the company was financed from personal savings. The company is now profitable and is funded 100% from subscribers and customers. We are not beholden to shareholders or any third party, just to our customers. This allows us to stay completely true to our values of privacy and security.
Data Requests
We have had zero data requests from law enforcement or a government agency.
Conclusion
We are a small, but growing, company. We are working to add more value to our customers and the privacy community. The only money we have made as a company to-date has been from subscribers and customers paying us for data removal services.
Thank you to our subscribers, website visitors, and other privacy enthusiasts. This company wouldn't exist if it weren't for you! We love being a part of this community and will continue to advocate for individuals' privacy rights.
Please let us know if you have any
- James Wilson, Founder and CEO
We were inspired by the transparency report at thenewoil.org. They have some great privacy guides there. Take a look.