Feed aggregator

Your VPN’s default settings might not be giving you all the protection you need, but adjust these settings to get a privacy boost.

Looking for Quordle clues? We can help. Plus get the answers to Quordle today and past solutions.

Looking for NYT Connections answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, plus my commentary on the puzzles.

Looking for NYT Strands answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, including the spangram.

There's 29% off my favorite vacuum cleaner and 30% of my go-to hair styler – and that's just for starters.

The Aeron, Embody, Vantum, and Sayl all get a big price cut in in the Presidents' Day sales

Discord users are so keen to escape age verification plans that they're in danger of suffocating alternative platforms.

Luxury retailer Canada Goose confirms data was leaked, but argues it wasn't breached, as hackers claim a third-party was hit instead.

We've tested LG and Samsung's budget OLED TVs, and you can't go wrong

A bad start to the week for X

Enjoy authentic hot or cold-brewed coffee, with a thermal carafe that keeps it at the perfect temperature for over five hours.

It's a good time to consider picking up these DJI models

Walmart's Presidents' Day sale is live, and I've found the 21 best deals on best-selling appliances, TVs, Apple devices, and more.

ShinyHunters claims responsibility, says Figure is part of the Okta single sign-on attacks.

iOS 27 will bring battery life improvements, according to a new report. But while you wait, here are 7 tips to try on iOS 26.

The NUC Box mini PC delivers practical everyday performance in a compact, space saving design for under $100.

Optery remains one of the strongest data removal services going into 2026, offering a rare mix of broad broker coverage, flexible pricing, and detailed visibility into what’s being removed from the web. Whether you are an individual, a family, or a business, it is particularly appealing if you want both automation and verifiable proof that the data has actually been taken down.

Data brokers, people-search sites, and marketing databases continue to expand in 2026, making it increasingly difficult to keep personal and professional information under control. Optery positions itself as a dedicated data removal and privacy service, focusing on scanning for exposed profiles and then systematically opting you out of hundreds of sites, including high‑value sources like Google search results. Used alongside other privacy tools such as a VPN, password manager, and antivirus, it helps form a more complete online protection stack rather than a standalone solution.

We found Optery especially compelling because it combines automated removals with human privacy agents on its higher tiers, increasing the likelihood that stubborn brokers will actually comply with opt‑out requests. It is also one of the few services that places a strong emphasis on visibility and documentation, providing detailed exposure and removal reports that show exactly where your information was found and which sites have been cleared.

Optery: Plans and pricing

(Image credit: Future)

Optery’s consumer lineup still revolves around four tiers: a free plan plus three paid subscriptions—Core, Extended, and Ultimate—available on both monthly and annual billing. The free tier focuses on self-service removals and scanning, while the paid plans add automated opt-outs at various levels and human-assisted removals.

Pricing for individuals remains very competitive by data-removal standards. Core starts at about $3.99 per month on a monthly subscription or roughly $3.25 per month with an annual subscription, positioning it among the lower-cost automated data removal options. Extended steps up to around $14.99 per month (about $12.42 monthly on annual billing), and Ultimate sits at $24.99 per month (around $20.70 on the annual plan), which aligns closely with what third‑party reviewers describe as $39, $149, and $249 per year, respectively, when purchased annually.

Coverage scales with price: Core handles removals from roughly 80–100 sites, Extended pushes coverage into the 200+ range, and Ultimate targets all of the 300–600+ broker and people‑search sites Optery monitors, depending on how you count international and niche sources. All paid plans are backed by a 30‑day money‑back guarantee, which makes it easier to trial the service without long‑term risk.

For businesses, Optery offers separate enterprise plans with per‑seat pricing, including Core Pro and Ultimate Pro options that scale to dozens or hundreds of employees and support advanced identity and access controls. Optery also offers discounts and options for family members in some plan structures, helping households and organizations protect multiple people under one umbrella.

Optery: Features

Optery’s feature set is one of its biggest strengths, particularly in how it blends scanning, removals, and proof. Even on the free tier, you get exposure reports, scans of Google search for your personal details, email and phone checks, and self-service opt‑out instructions for many brokers, giving you a strong baseline view of your public exposure.

On paid tiers, Optery moves from self‑service to automation. Core focuses on fully automated “bot‑only” removals across 80–100 sites, typically limited to a single name and one city or state per user. Extended introduces a “humans + machines” model, where automated tools are paired with human privacy agents, expands coverage to 200+ sites, and supports unlimited name variations and historical addresses for the same person.

Ultimate is where Optery differentiates itself most clearly. It adds coverage for the full list of supported data brokers (300+ and, in some third‑party tests, upwards of 600+ total sites checked), unlimited custom removal requests after a short onboarding period, and automated removal requests for outdated content to Google and Bing. Across all paid tiers, Optery provides periodic removal reports—often monthly or quarterly—that include screenshots and status updates, making it easy to verify that profiles have been removed or suppressed.

For families and small groups, Optery offers options to protect multiple people under a single subscription, with discounted rates when you add more members. For power users, there are also advanced capabilities, like expanded reach and maximize‑removals features, that aim to push opt‑outs as widely as possible across related brokers and aggregators.

Optery: Setup

Getting started with Optery is straightforward and mostly guided. You begin by creating an account, choosing either the free tier or a paid plan, then adding basic personal details such as your name, email address, and at least one address to enable accurate matching across data brokers.

Once your profile is set up, Optery runs an initial scan, generating an exposure report that highlights where your information appears and the severity of each exposure. If you remain on the free tier, you can use the dashboard’s links and instructions to submit opt‑out requests yourself; paid users can simply confirm their details and let Optery’s automated and human agents begin the removal process.

Enterprise customers have a more structured onboarding phase, typically involving bulk user provisioning via SSO/SCIM/SAML and policy configuration, but Optery provides admin dashboards and tools to streamline rollout across teams. In either scenario, the initial setup is usually a one‑time effort, after which Optery continues scanning and issuing removals in the background.

Optery: Ease of use

Day‑to‑day, Optery is designed to be low‑maintenance. The dashboard offers a clear overview of your exposure, showing which sites have active profiles, which have been removed, and where follow‑up is still in progress. For most users, the service runs in the background after initial configuration, with periodic emails or PDF reports summarizing progress.

One of the more user‑friendly aspects is the visibility into each broker: Optery often captures screenshots or structured evidence showing your information before and after removal, which helps reassure less technical users that real work is being done. This transparency is an area where it compares favorably to some rivals that provide only high‑level status numbers.

The trade‑off is that the depth of information and configuration options can feel a bit dense if you just want a “set it and forget it” experience, especially in the enterprise portal. Still, for privacy‑focused individuals and organizations, the combination of automation, detailed logs, and clear status tracking makes Optery one of the easier advanced services to live with day to day.

Optery: Security and privacy

(Image credit: Optery)

Because Optery is handling sensitive personal data in order to remove it from brokers, its own security posture matters. The company is headquartered in the United States and emphasizes compliance with major privacy regulations such as CCPA and related state privacy laws, aligning its opt‑out workflow with legal rights to data deletion and restriction.

Optery uses a “humans + machines” model, but carefully scopes what information is shared with data brokers, typically limiting it to what is strictly necessary to confirm identity and process an opt‑out. Features like Maximize Removals and Expanded Reach increase coverage by sending more removal requests, and Optery’s documentation is explicit about the data elements included so customers understand the trade‑offs.

On the infrastructure side, Optery stores account data in secure environments and recommends keeping a subscription active because brokers frequently repopulate profiles and new exposures appear over time, which it mitigates with recurring scans and removals. The Ultimate plan’s integration with Google’s and Bing’s outdated content tools also shortens the window during which exposed data remains visible in search results, reducing the opportunity for bad actors to exploit cached records.

Optery: Support

Optery backs its product with a reasonably comprehensive support ecosystem, centered on a self‑service Help Center and direct email support. The Help Center covers topics like getting started, managing profiles, understanding your exposure reports, enterprise administration, and troubleshooting common issues, which reduces the need to contact support for routine questions.

For more complex or account‑specific issues, users can reach Optery via email, with higher‑tier plans—particularly Ultimate—receiving priority handling. The company also maintains a blog that explores broader privacy topics, provides deep dives on data broker behavior and legal frameworks, and publishes step‑by‑step opt‑out guides that are useful even if you are not a paying customer.

While some rivals now offer live chat or bundled phone support, Optery’s approach skews toward detailed written resources and email‑based assistance, which fits well with its documentation‑heavy, evidence‑driven style. For most technically comfortable users and business admins, that combination is more than adequate.

Optery: The competition

(Image credit: Kanary)

Optery competes in a crowded field that includes DeleteMe, Mozilla Monitor Plus, Kanary, Privacy Bee, IDX, and newer offerings like Incogni and DuckDuckGo’s privacy membership. Each service has its own strengths, and the best fit depends on whether you prioritize automation, international coverage, price, or bundled extras.

DeleteMe is one of the longest‑running names in the space, with a reputation for strong customer service and manual removals, though its coverage and interface can feel more traditional. Mozilla Monitor Plus leans on Mozilla’s broader ecosystem—often packaged with a VPN and other tools—and is attractive if you already trust Mozilla and want a single vendor for multiple privacy services.

Kanary positions itself around fast scans and transparent reporting and directly compares its coverage and speed against Optery and DeleteMe, often at a mid‑range price point. Privacy Bee and IDX tend to bundle identity monitoring and security features with data removal, making them appealing if you want a more “all‑in-one” security suite rather than a dedicated removal tool.

Incogni, which has grown quickly in popularity, focuses heavily on large‑scale automated removals and often comes in cheaper for families, but it may not match Optery’s depth of proof and visibility into each individual removal. Across recent independent roundups, Optery regularly appears among the top recommended personal data removal services, particularly at the Ultimate tier, where its site coverage and reporting stand out.

Optery: Verdict

Optery continues to stand out in 2026 as one of the best data removal services for users who care about both breadth of coverage and transparency into what’s being done on their behalf. Its combination of a genuinely useful free tier, flexible paid pricing, automated and human‑assisted removals, and strong broker coverage—including automated removal of outdated content from Google and Bing—puts it ahead of many rivals, especially at the higher end.

There are trade‑offs: the interface and reporting depth can feel like overkill if you just want something completely hands‑off, and some competitors offer more robust real‑time support channels or lower family pricing. Even so, if your priority is claiming control of your personal information across as many data brokers and search results as possible, Optery’s Ultimate and Extended plans are extremely compelling options for both individuals and organizations.

For anyone building a serious privacy stack in 2026, alongside a VPN, password manager, and security tools, Optery deserves a place near the top of your shortlist.

• Sign up to Optery

Apple doesn't recommend carrying out a battery upgrade like this – but someone tried it anyway.

Don't want to bother with turntable cables? TEAC's TN 400BT X/TB wants you to listen to your vinyl wirelessly

OpenAI snaps up OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger – OpenClaw will now go on to be an "open and independent" platform.