Privacy News
Top data removal service by independent, expert analysis
August 10, 2026
PCMag has published ratings for nine data removal services. The scores do not simply follow company age or category familiarity. DeleteMe, one of the category’s longest-running services, received 3.5 stars, while several newer competitors scored higher.
Here is how PCMag’s published ratings compare and what consumers should consider beyond the numbers.
Privacy Bee’s 5.0 was the first perfect rating PCMag awarded to a data removal service. You can read Privacy Bee’s full announcement or go directly to PCMag’s Privacy Bee review.
The full ranking
Privacy Bee - 5.0
Optery - 4.5
Incogni - 4.5
Cloaked - 4.0
Kanary - 4.0
IDX Complete - 4.0
PrivacyHawk - 4.0
DeleteMe - 3.5
Aura - 3.5
These scores were collected from nine individual PCMag reviews and checked on August 10, 2026. The products were not necessarily tested simultaneously, and PCMag updates reviews over time. Follow each linked review for the current score.
These are PCMag’s published editorial ratings. Privacy Bee did not calculate or modify them.
What the scores measure
PCMag says it evaluates data removal services through hands-on testing and considers factors including price, ease of use and additional features. Its individual reviews also examine coverage, reporting, removal options and related privacy tools.
The ratings are editorial product scores. They are not the result of a single controlled benchmark conducted across all nine services at the same time.
Independent evaluation still matters in this category because many important claims are difficult for consumers to verify on their own. Customers cannot easily determine how comprehensively a service searched for their information, whether every request was honored or what happens when their information reappears.
Reading the tiers
One service scored 5.0, two scored 4.5, four scored 4.0 and two scored 3.5.
Privacy Bee was the only service to receive 5.0. It also received PCMag’s Editors’ Choice award.
In his published Privacy Bee review, Neil J. Rubenking, Principal Writer for Security at PCMag, wrote that “Privacy Bee merits a rare five-star rating and an Editors’ Choice award.”
DeleteMe and Aura received 3.5. Several newer services received higher ratings than one of the category’s longest-running companies.
The comparison does not prove that recognition is meaningless. It does show why consumers should not rely on familiarity alone when comparing data removal services.
What a score does not tell you
A single number is a summary, not the entire decision. Three factors underneath that score deserve closer attention.
Coverage
Services differ considerably in how many data brokers and people-search sites they address.
According to Privacy Bee’s current pricing page, its Pro service covers more than 1,100 data brokers and people-search sites. Privacy Bee also maintains mapped removal processes for more than 180,000 additional custom sites.
Those figures change as new sources and removal processes are added, so check the live coverage information for the latest counts.
Other services publish their own coverage figures, and the definitions behind those numbers can vary. Some companies count only sites included in standard automated coverage. Others combine automated coverage, custom requests and additional site categories into one figure.
Coverage numbers should therefore be compared carefully rather than treated as identical measurements.
Persistence
Removing personal information once does not guarantee that it will remain unavailable.
Data brokers continually rebuild their databases using public records, purchased datasets and other sources. A profile removed today can therefore reappear later.
Privacy Bee explains its approach to repeated scanning and removals on its security and trust page.
The important long-term question is whether a service continues monitoring for that reappearance and begins the removal process again.
Verification
Submitting a removal request is not the same as confirming that a listing disappeared.
Look for evidence showing what the service found, when a request was sent, whether the listing was removed and whether the service checks for its return.
This is particularly important because a submitted request may still be pending, rejected or awaiting action from the data broker.
How to use this list
These scores are a useful starting point, but they should not be the only part of your decision.
When two services have similar ratings, compare their coverage, what happens after the first removal and what they show you about the work being performed.
You can also check your current exposure before choosing a service. Privacy Bee’s free scan can show you which data broker and people-search sites may be listing information connected to you.
Run your free scan at privacybee.com.
Sources
PCMag’s personal data removal service guide