We've all been there. You Google your name, click on the first few links that pop up, and you find out a bunch of websites have created unauthorized "profiles" of you containing all the personal information they could find.
Your professional accomplishments are nowhere to be found. All that comes up in Google are these sites selling your contact information, criminal record, home address, family ties, credit score, income, and so much more - to whoever is willing to buy it.
These websites are called data brokers. Some sell your information directly to advertisers; others, like people search sites, make it public and lock extra data behind a paywall. So, why do these sites show up before your carefully curated LinkedIn profile or personal website? Well, data is a big business, and Google loves websites that give out a lot of detailed information to the public.
So, whenever you, an employer, a friend, or a stranger type in your name, they're likely to find a bunch of unflattering and probably inaccurate people searches site profiles.
Bottom Line Upfront:OneRep is an absolute steal. Now that our personal information is collected, profiled, and sold to anyone who wants it online, having a tool automatically take me off of those annoying people search sites is incredible. I feel safer, I get less spam, and I have more in control over my online reputation.
Ok, So My Personal Information is Exposed on Google. Is that Bad?
Yes. It's actually very bad. When that much information is public, you become a target for spammers, scammers, identity thieves, cyberstalkers, doxxers, and just about any other cybercriminal you can think of. Sometimes the information on these sites even includes legal and financial documents that could expose your Social Security number.
And even then, there's no guarantee that your people's search site records are even remotely accurate. You could have someone else's heinous criminal records attached to your name or have other types of inaccurate information linked to your account that hurts your reputation.
Now that so much of our personal and professional lives involve the internet, that's no small thing.
Then How Do I Remove It?
Good move. You want to take down all of this information as soon as possible since it can really only hurt you. Legally, data brokers are obligated to remove your information in response to the opt-out requests. But, as you can imagine, there's a lot of money in data, and they want to make it as hard as possible to take you out of their list.
So, they drag their feet. They make you complete a bunch of tedious steps. They ask you for even more information. Some even require you to mail them a letter to opt out.
When you take into consideration how there are probably a hundred sites with your data, each with completely unique opt-out steps, then you'll realize just how tedious manually opting out of people search sites is.
The solution? Privacy management tools that monitor data brokers for your information - and remove it.
OneRep was the first company to automate this process. It has the widest coverage of data brokers (over 100) and, in my experience, it was very efficient in eliminating my "profiles" on data broker sites.
What's OneRep? OneRep Review
In order to write a thorough OneRep review, I found as much information on their business as possible. I'll get into the hands-on experience of using their product in the next section, but if you want to know a bit about who they are and how they operate, this is for you.
According to their website and business profiles, OneRep has been around since 2015. The idea was to build a service that would help people fight data broker sites without spending a fortune on privacy consultants and reputation management services, who often charge thousands of dollars for their services.
Essentially, it's an automatic opt-out tool.
It lets you skip manually filling out over a hundred opt-out requests - so you can just focus on living your life. And it seems to be a hit. I came across plenty of positive OneRep.com reviews by customers and professional reviewers.
They've since become an international operation, with offices in the U.S. and Eastern Europe. But that's enough background. Their tool is pretty intriguing, but is OneRep legit?
How Does OneRep Work? OneRep Review
I've struggled with people's search sites for years (who hasn't?), so the idea that I could have a service constantly remove my information from them in real-time for the price of a book a month was great. So, I did a bit of research, and then I went for it. Here's how it worked.
When you sign up for OneRep, you just tell them what information their tool should use to identify you (date of birth, name, address, etc.) on over 100 data brokers and people search sites, and then sit back and let their tool go to work. That's it. I was shocked at how easy it was.
By adding extra details about yourself, you can exclude people with similar names from your search, ensuring more accurate search results and data removal. Likewise, listing past information - previous addresses, phone numbers and names - helps locate and remove profiles that use your legacy information.
After that, you can see in real-time how much progress the tool has made, including all of the sites that your information appeared on, all of the sites it may appear on in the future, which sites you're currently being removed from, and which sites you've been completely removed from.
I loved this dashboard. It felt great to see that the tool was always working for me and constantly getting results.
But how does OneRep remove your information?
It's pretty simple. First, the tool scans their ever-expanding list of supported data brokers. This includes a lot of the big names, like Mylife and Spokeo, and also some lesser-known people search sites that tend to rank well when your info is taken off of the heavy hitters.
Next, it automatically completes the opt-out process for the people search sites that your information popped upon. This is the biggest appeal for me since it probably saved me hundreds of hours. Finally, the tool continues to monitor all of its supported people search sites for your data - because it will pop up again.
Can't I Opt-Out for Free?
Technically you can. Then again, technically you could build your own coffee maker instead of buying one, but that doesn't mean it's the best use of your time. I've tried to opt-out of these sites before. I managed to get through maybe ten before I realized how many hours I wasted, how frustrated I was, and how crazy it is that some needed paperwork mailed to them.
That said, I do appreciate that OneRep's team tries to make manual opt-out easier.
They have over 350+ manual opt-out instructions that will guide you through the process. You can even use OneRep's free scan to find out how many data brokers are currently exposing your information. (Trust me - That's a lot faster than checking them all by hand.)
Here are their steps for free manual opt-out:- Run a free scan for your information on OneRep's website. Once you type in your email, OneRep will create an account for you and you'll see a list of sites you were found on. This is completely free:
2. Go through the list one by one and opt out. This will take a while, and sometimes you'll need to opt out a few times a year.
3.Check back in regularly. Those sites often post your information again shortly after removing it. Also, keep in mind that new sites are probably posting your information too. So be on the lookout!
There's also a trial you can use, which lets you see how the OneRep process works for 5 days. It's a good way to dip your toes in the water if you aren't quite sure if this tool is for you. I used it before I became a paying member. It's the same process as above - you just won't have your information removed from every single site in five days, and the tool won't continue monitoring those sites to keep you off of them.
OneRep Cost: What About the Plans and Pricing?
To make it easier to decide what type of plan is best for you, I used the pricing and feature information from their website and made a table below. If you want to protect information for more than one person, then the family plan is the best value.
If you just want to protect your information, and you don't need to be removed from more complicated websites, then the individual plan is great. And if your privacy needs are a lot more complicated, then they have another plan that will get you off of more challenging websites.
If you have more advanced privacy needs, then OneRep offers the Individual+ plan. This will get you removed from challenging websites like arrestrecords.com or mugshots.com. It also includes the features from the previous plans.
Personally, I think the pricing is more than fair. Unfortunately, we live in a world where data brokers are allowed to create unauthorized profiles, and consumers are expected to constantly contact hundreds of them just for basic privacy.
It's not fair, and I'm more than happy having a tool like OneRep keep my information locked down for me.
Pros
- Fully automated - no manual actions required
- Removes your private information from the largest number of data broker sites (100+)
- Transparent, easy to use, and trusted by 5,000+ new users every month.
- Flexible plan options including both a monthly and annual subscription.
- You can add an unlimited number of addresses and other details to find and remove all unauthorized records.
- You can sign up up to 5 more family members for a moderate price increase
- Offers free DIY removal instructions.
- Great customer service via phone, email, and chatbot
Cons
- Currently works for US addresses only
- Cannot automatically remove you from arrest records and criminal records sites, in case you need these services.
OneRep Reviews by Customers
I've reviewed a lot of services, so I know that the best way to really gauge their quality is by looking at customer feedback. Here are some OneRep reviews I collected that highlight some noteworthy parts of their service.
FAQs about OneRep
Conclusion: Is OneRep Worth it? OneRep Review
Taking my thoughts into consideration with other customer OneRep.com reviews, it's safe to say that this is a valuable tool that does exactly what it says it'll do. It's important to protect your privacy, especially these days.
And for such a low monthly price, I think it's more than a fair trade-off. After all, they continuously check and opt-out of over a hundred of the trickiest data brokers out there. That saves a lot of your time - and keeps your privacy in check.
In fact, I actually noticed a significant drop in spam messages, promotional mail, and unsolicited emails ever since I signed up. It also feels great knowing that I'm not going to pop up on any cybercriminal's monitors while they're searching for low-hanging fruit on data brokers. OneRep is legit, and it's a buy.
