Incogni data removal service review

In 2024, keeping your data safe should be a top priority and a range of tools have sprung up in recent years to do just that. Data removal services are the best way to remove your data from data brokers, for better peace of mind.

Alongside having a VPN, antivirus software, and a password manager, a data removal service can both help you track and remove your data from a huge array of entities – you might be surprised at how many companies have your data. 

Well-known VPN provider Surfshark has a separate privacy service known as Incogni, a subscription-based tool designed to help individuals get their data from a data broker service, which would be overly time-consuming to do manually, as there are hundreds of databases.

• Sign up to Incogni

Not only do you need to get the data out, but the next challenge is to keep it out, and Incogni will continue to sweep these many databases, searching for your name and personal info, and removing it, thereby keeping the info out of these databases.

As with all internet services, we highly recommend checking out the competition from data removal services like DeleteMe, Mozilla Monitor Plus, Kanary, and Optery, all of which have their own pros and cons, and, perhaps most importantly, prices. 

• How we test, review and rate on TechRadar

Incogni: Pricing and plans

Unlike some other services that have multiple tiers of plans to choose from, Incogni errs towards simple. Here, we have just one plan to choose from, making the choice of which one to go for really simple. 

For that plan, the only real choice is whether to pay monthly or annually. The plan is limited to the US, the UK, the EU, Swiss, and Canadian residents only, and the payments are encrypted and secure, there is no long term commitment, no long term subscription, a 30-day money back guarantee.

The month to month plan costs $14.98. The other option is the annual plan, which gets paid one year at a time for $89.88, which works out at $7.49 per month, for a substantial savings of 50% on each month of the service. Not a bad deal. 

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a free trial available. 

• The best VPN service in 2024

Incogni: Basic features

Data brokers continuously collect data on individuals, from a wide variety of sources, including scouring the internet, social media, and public sources, such as public databases of property records to gain names with addresses, or alumni databases to find graduates of a certain school.

All of the data is collated to build a profile on individuals, and the data brokers then want to sell this information. Some of this type of data collection can be legitimate, such as for credit checks, but unfortunately this also puts the data at risk for nefarious purposes such as hackers.

Incogni has an exhaustive list of the data broker databases, and the company states that they can save an individual the hundreds of hours of work to get your information out of them. Incogni provides a data removal tool, designed to be user friendly and to help control who has the data. 

To delve in deeper, Icogni uses laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an EU law also from 2018, along with other privacy laws that apply to the location in question to compel data brokers to act. 

Incogni says that on the first day of joining the requests to remove the data are sent out and within a week there are responses. In the first month, most of these data removal requests have been processed. From there, they then periodically come back and follow up with the requests that were not executed, to make sure that the data gets taken down.

Users get weekly updates, which is a nice touch as some other services only updated clients on a monthly or quarterly basis.

• The best web browser in 2024

Incogni: Using Incogni

We found that using Incogni was pretty easy and simple. After making an account, the service begins scanning for your data across the web and showing data removal requests being made. 

The online dashboard is nothing too crazy, and shows all of the basic info you will need, like total number of requests. The service works with 180 data brokers, which is a lot but not massive compared to its rivals. 

As with most data removal services, after signing up, the fun is kind of over: you have to wait for Incogni to scan the web, send the requests, and then get replies. The company does show what kind of data each broker has. 

One important thing to note is that data brokers can often be slow moving and so Incogni (and all other data removal services) can feel a bit, well, slow. Fear not, though, the process is still happening and there should be results and success within a few weeks or months. 

• 4 ways oversharing on social media puts your privacy at risk

Incogni: Support

Incogni does offer both direct and self-help support options, however, ideally we would like to see more of both.

On the direct side of things, we did not seem to be able to find a phone number, fax, email, snail mail address, or online chat box. Rather, there is a single option for direct communication via a support portal, which does at least let the user include a file with the issue, which is useful for markup to explain an issue further.

On the website, there is a searchable knowledge center, and while it does include a FAQ, this last part only had answers to seven questions. Incogni also publishes a website specifically on data brokers and how they work. 

For anyone who hasn't signed up, the company has various guides on how to opt-out of different services, which is handy, albeit something most data removal services have.

• Best firewall software of 2024

Incogni: The competition

Incogni has a lot of strong competition in the space, both from long-time data removal services and companies adding such services to other products. We always recommend checking out the competition, especially if you have a specific need. 

DeleteMe is one of the most long running data removal services on the market, having been founded in 2011, and offers a pretty massive coverage area across the internet with customers happy with the results. 

As we mentioned above, Incogni is developed by Surfshark, which is a big plus, and anyone looking for similar security should consider Mozilla Monitor Plus, developed by the famous Firefox web browser maker, and offering a compelling set of services as part of a broader software suite. 

In our testing, we also recommend Kanary, Privacy Bee, IDX, and Optery. 

• Best broadband deals right now

Incogni: Final verdict

Incogni offers a compelling service for users to keep control of their privacy. We value the annual discount, the weekly updates, and the money back guarantee for 30-days, plus the capable data removal features on offer. 

While there is no free trial, and the support setup is somewhat limited, the service worked well, and doesn't cost as much as some of its rivals. Overall, for those that value their data privacy, Incogni is worth examining further.

Sign up to Incogni