Evaluating the Effectiveness of People-Search Site Removal Services

Recent findings by Consumer Reports have cast doubt on the effectiveness of people-search site removal services, claiming a high rate of ineffectiveness among tested companies.

However, this study did not include MyDataRemoval. Here, we respond to these findings and share our own audit results to highlight the strengths and areas for improvement within our services.

Consumer Reports evaluated the performance of seven different data removal services by checking their effectiveness in removing personal information from 13 major people-search websites.

The results, as they report, were largely unsatisfactory, with many services failing to completely remove user data across the board. The graphic below shows the effectiveness rates for each provider across various time frames.

Methodology Disclosure

Consumer Reports’ study tracked the same individuals over time using a longitudinal methodology.

MyDataRemoval’s internal audit uses a different approach, analyzing different customer cohorts at defined time intervals.

Because these methodologies differ, the results should not be interpreted as a direct head-to-head comparison.

In light of the Consumer Reports study, we conducted an internal audit to assess our own effectiveness using publicly available industry research for context. Our findings were encouraging but also highlighted areas for growth.

One of the main differences from the study was that Consumer Reports followed people over time, while we looked at different customers who signed up at the intervals shown by the report.

So the ‘profiles removed within 1 week’ category is a random sampling of our customers who signed up a week ago, ‘profiles removed within 1 month’ is customers who signed up 1 month ago, etc.

In our internal audit, we observed removal rates of up to 85% within the first week, with subsequent measurements of 71% at one month and 73% at four months, using our cohort-based evaluation approach. In our internal audit, we observed higher initial removal rates under our specific testing methodology.

Internal audit data reflects MyDataRemoval’s own cohort-based methodology and should not be interpreted as a direct comparison with third-party studies.

This table juxtaposes differently derived datasets for transparency purposes only and does not represent a standardized performance comparison.

We acknowledge that a 70% effectiveness rate is not good enough. We will continue to audit our removals until we get into the 90s if not 100%. We will update this post with our future audits to show how we are doing.

When anyone signs up for MyDataRemoval, they need to know that their data will be removed.

In response to this article, we did our own audit. The MyDataRemoval internal audit shows higher initial removal rates under our methodology. We also found we have room for improvement.

Stay tuned for our monthly audit results, published here, to track our progress towards making your personal information private once again.

Don't wait to protect your privacy—contact us today at hello@mydataremoval.com to learn more about our services or to start your journey to a more private online presence. You can also reach out to us directly at (855) 700-2914. Subscribe to our updates and stay informed about the latest in data privacy and how you can keep your information secure.

*We prioritized other tasks December 2024-February 2025 and after March 2025.

All MyDataRemoval performance figures cited above are derived from internal audits using methodologies that differ from those used by third-party studies. Results may vary depending on individual circumstances, data sources, and evaluation methods.