If you’re here, chances are you’re already familiar with this fact: your personal information is being bought and sold online. Incogni and OneRep are two of the best data removal services, striving to help users regain control over their online presence, and we’re going to compare what they offer so you can make an informed decision on which to use.
I’ve created this comparison to show the differences of these services based not only on how they operate but also the user experience. As someone who has personally used both services, my hope is that this experience can be beneficial to you.
Key Takeaways
- Incogni leads in security practices and global reach, catering to users in the US, Canada, EU, UK, and other European regions, whereas OneRep is limited to the US.
- OneRep’s methodology of actively scanning data brokers for user profiles and verifying removals may be more accurate than Incogni’s approach for predicting which brokers likely have the data.
- Both services are transparent about their data removal efforts, but concerns have been raised about OneRep’s founder having ties to data broker sites, casting doubt on its trustworthiness.
- For users seeking additional privacy features beyond data removal or those requiring specialized assistance, the alternative service DeleteMe may be a better option with its comprehensive offerings and personalized support.
Note: Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you, I may be compensated if you choose to use one of the services listed. I only recommend what I personally have used, and I appreciate your support!
Incogni vs OneRep: A Side-by-Side Comparison
Incogni, launched in 2022 by the well-known VPN provider Surfshark, and is a relatively new service in the data removal space, while OneRep has been facilitating data removals since 2015.
However, longevity of service doesn’t always mean better results.
That’s why I decided to meticulously evaluate these services based on several factors:
- Methodology
- Security Practices
- Accessibility
- Customer support
- Real World Effectiveness
By the end, you should have all the tools necessary to make a good decision between Incogni or OneRep for your data removal service. If you’d like, you can use the table of contents below to skip to a specific aspect of their service.
- Data Brokers and International Coverage
- Methodology: How they remove your data
- Ease of Use: Is Incogni or OneRep more user friendly?
- Plans and Pricing: Which Offers Better Value for Money, Incogni or OneRep?
- Security and Privacy: Which is the Safer Option: Incogni or OneRep?
- Customer Support: Which Offers More Helpful Support Systems, Ingocni or OneRep?
- Real-World Effectiveness: Incogni vs OneRep – Which Service Performs Better
- Additional Features: Which Removal Service Offers Better Extras?
- FAQ’s
- Incogni vs OneRep: Which Emerges Victorious?
Data Brokers and International Coverage
Incogni claims to scrape data from 180+ data brokers, while OneRep claims that they cover over 355+ sites. However, those numbers don’t give the full story.
Here’s what those numbers really mean.
For example, Incogni’s smaller catalog actually includes a wider range of brokers, such as People search sites, marketing, finance, risk mitigation, and recruitment databases. This means that Incogni can remove users from spam emails, telemarketing calls, and targeted ads.
In contrast, OneRep’s larger catalog primarily concentrates on people search sites.
Beyond catalog numbers, it’s important to know each service’s geographic reach, and their services differ significantly in this regard.
OneRep exclusively caters to US residents, whereas Incogni provides international accessibility, serving individuals in the US, Canada, European Union, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
This means that users from the regions covered by Incogni, but not by OneRep, only have Incogni as an option for their data removal needs.
It’s worth noting, however, that neither Incogni nor OneRep can assist users from Australia or Singapore. In such cases, you may want to consider an alternative data privacy management software, like DeleteMe, which caters to those regions.
Methodology: How They Remove Your Data
Both Incogni and OneRep share the same objective of helping individuals remove their sensitive data from data broker websites. However, the companies employ different approaches to achieve this. Let me explain how.
Incogni’s Data Removal Approach
To initiate the process, Incogni requires users to provide their personal information. Rather than searching the data brokers’ records to find users’ unique profiles, Incogni proactively sends users’ data to the brokers it believes are likely to hold the users’ data.
Incogni (a data removal service) sends your data to brokers.
After sending, Incogni doesn’t verify removal, yet they mark the operation as “complete” once they receive the broker’s response that the information has been deleted or was never held.
While this approach works due to non-compliance fines under privacy laws like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and CCPA, some users, including myself, feel uncomfortable sharing their information directly with data-hungry brokers who may or may not have already had the data in the first place.
OneRep’s Data Removal Approach
In contrast, OneRep takes a more hands-on approach via its True Scan technology. It scans the database of covered data brokers to identify the ones holding the user’s information and then submits data removal request on the user’s behalf.
Moreover, OneRep verifies the removal of data themselves instead of taking data brokers’ word for it.
Overall, OneRep’s approach to contacting data brokers based on its discoveries appears notably safer and more user-centric, although there are other concerns that I’ll cover in a moment.
Ease of Use: Is Incogni or OneRep More User-Friendly?
When comparing the user experience of Incogni and OneRep, the former demonstrates a slight edge in intuitive design and level of detail.
In my opinion, Incogni’s dashboard has a more visually appealing layout. It displays the number of data broker removal requests that have been sent, those that are in progress, and those that have been completed. Scrolling down, users can find a pie chart showcasing the progress, accompanied by some helpful resources.
On the other hand, OneRep’s interface is more text-heavy and immediately presents users with a list of profiles, categorized into color coded-sections like Profiles found (Orange), Potential sites (Yellow), Removal in progress (Blue), and Removed (Green).
Users can click on each entry on OneRep’s findings and click on the “View profile” option to find what information the broker holds about them. OneRep also provides a sample PDF and DIY opt-out guide for that specific broker.
Incogni provides more granular details. It lets you switch to a detailed view that breaks down the data brokers into various categories, such as people search, financial, risk mitigation, health, and recruitment.
Incogni also assigns a data sensitivity score from 1 to 10 for each broker, indicating the level of threat they pose. The status of each removal is displayed as either Completed, In Progress, Rejected, or Not started.
However, one drawback to Incogni’s reporting is that it doesn’t provide links to found profiles, making it difficult for users to verify that sites actually had their personal information and exactly what data was removed.
Clarity of Information Provided
Both Incogni and OneRep are transparent about their data removal efforts, though there are some serious concerns about OneRep’s data handling practices (more on this in the security section).
Both services, on their respective websites, provide the list of data brokers they cover, along with educational resources like self-help guides and FAQs to assist users in reducing their digital footprint.
One key difference is their reporting frequency claims. OneRep sends a monthly report detailing the data brokers from which the user’s information has been taken off.
In contrast, Incogni doesn’t offer monthly reports but instead claims to provide real-time updates via its dashboard. It’s worth mentioning that Incogni users mention receiving frequent email updates on the removal status from individual data brokers.
Plans and Pricing: Which Offers Better Value for Money, Incogni or OneRep?
When it comes to pricing, Incogni offers a monthly plan at $12.98 and an annual plan at $77.88 per year (billed annually).
Conversely, OneRep’s monthly plan costs $14.95, and its annual plan is priced at $99.95 per year (billed annually). OneRep also provides an additional family plan that allows coverage for up to six people.
Although Incogni may seem more affordable initially, it’s worth noting that its listed prices exclude taxes, which can make the final cost slightly higher than OneRep’s plan. That said, Incogni offers a 55% discount on the annual plan for students, who can verify their status through Student Beans. OneRep doesn’t provide any such student discount.
In terms of trial offering, Incogni provides a 30-day money-back guarantee on all its plans, while OneRep offers a 5-day free trial period.
However, both services force unnecessary steps in canceling the trial or paid subscription, as users are required to email or call the companies rather than providing a simple “Cancel” button as DeleteMe does. This is one of many differences detailed in our DeleteMe vs Incogni comparison.
Security and Privacy: Which is the Safer Option, Incogni or OneRep?
When it comes to protecting user privacy, Incogni holds a significant advantage over OneRep due to questionable practices from the latter.
An investigation by KrebsOnSecutity revealed that OneRep’s Belarusian CEO and founder, Dimitri Shelest, has founded dozens of people search sites, including an active data broker called Nuwber that sells background reports on individuals.
This revelation exposed OneRep’s shady practices, being a participant of the very issue it claims to solve. This is unacceptable in an industry where privacy is paramount,
Following this exposure, Mozilla terminated its partnership with OneRep, casting doubt on whether the company has truly cut ties with data brokers or continues to secretly share user data. I’ve covered this issue in more detail in our full OneRep review.
In contrast, Incogni has maintained a clean track record regarding privacy practices thus far. This distinction is further highlighted by the companies’ respective data-handling practices.
Data Handling Policies
OneRep’s privacy policy reveals the collection of unnecessary information, like IP addresses and device information. By contrast, Incogni’s privacy policy is transparent about the limited data it collects (not IP addresses), and the names of the entities with whom this information is shared.
Notably, Incogni is also certified compliant with SOC 2 Type II requirements, assuring that user data is handled securely.
While OneRep has also completed its SOC 2 Type I certification, the revelations from the KrebsOnSecurity report cast doubt on the trustworthiness of this achievement.
Reliability of Automatic Opt-Out Processes
Regarding the reliability of automatic opt-out processes, both Incogni and OneRep predominantly rely on such methods, requiring very minimal actions from your end, and both have proven effective in this regard.
Customer Support: Which Offers More Helpful Support Systems, Incogni or OneRep?
Data removal can often require assistance from customer support. What happens if you find your data being sold somewhere? What do you do when there’s a problem with a removal request?
While both Incogni and OneRep offer support systems, they fall short in comparison to a more comprehensive data removal service like DeleteMe.
Responsiveness to Customer Inquiries
Incogni allows users to reach out via email or through a support form on their website, and users have reported receiving timely responses to their queries. Similarly, OneRep promptly assists users with any queries through email or phone support.
However, neither service features live chat or assign a personal privacy advisor like DeleteMe, lacking a personalized touch in their support.
Assistance With Complex Cases
Unfortunately, neither Incogni nor OneRep’s websites mention the ability to handle custom requests for data removal from brokers not covered by their standard services.
If you require such specialized assistance, DeleteMe may be a better option, as it provides a facility for custom data removal requests.
Real-World Effectiveness: Incogni vs OneRep – Which Service Performs Better?
In terms of real-world effectiveness, both Incogni and OneRep have users claiming successful data removal after using their services. However, OneRep’s approach may be more accurate for a couple of reasons.
First, OneRep employs its proprietary True Scan technology to scan data brokers and locate your actual profiles, whereas Incogni relies on an algorithm to predict which brokers are likely to have your data.
Secondly, OneRep verifies the data removal themselves, while Incogni depends on what data brokers report rather than independent verification.
Furthermore, it’s worth noting that while Incogni allows you to add multiple last names, it doesn’t support multiple aliases, email addresses, or physical addresses, which could limit the number of profiles discovered and removed.
OneRep, on the other hand, lets you add unlimited email addresses, aliases, phone numbers, and physical addresses, potentially increasing the scope of their search.
Speed and Accuracy of Removal
The results timeline depends less on the privacy service itself and more on each data broker’s removal process. Some brokers respond to requests within a few days, while others may take several weeks.
So regardless of which service you pick between Incogni and OneRep, expect to start seeing results within a similar timeframe.
Additional Features: Which Removal Service Offers Better Extras?
Incogni and OneRep are both dedicated data removal services and their offerings are solely limited to that core function.
Again, if you’re seeking additional privacy-focused features beyond basic data removal, consider DeleteMe, as it not only removes data but also offers email and phone number masking.
Resources for DIY Data Removal
For those inclined towards self-service, Incogni provides 85 self-opt-out guides, covering a wide range of major US brokers. On the other hand, OneRep boasts an even larger library of DIY data removal guides. However, it’s worth noting that this method is more suitable for individuals who have more time than money.
FAQs
Let’s address some of the most frequently asked questions about Incogni and OneRep.
Incogni is better than OneRep due to its notably better security compared to OneRep, which has experienced significant setbacks. It also serves users outside the US, unlike OneRep.
No, Incogni is not owned by Nord. It’s owned by Surfshark, a company that shares ownership ties with Nord in Lithuania.
Incogni vs OneRep: Which Emerges Victorious?
In conclusion, Incogni holds a slight advantage over OneRep with its clean security record and broader international availability. However, OneRep excels in its methodology for locating and confirming data removal.
Throughout this guide, I’ve repeatedly mentioned DeleteMe as an alternative to Incogni and OneRep. This recommendation is not due to any bias but rather stems from DeleteMe’s superior capabilities and heightened security features. For more details, check out my DeleteMe review.
Finally, although these data removal tools are invaluable for mitigating harm, it’s crucial to cultivate healthy online habits to deter potential data breaches. This entails keeping your social media accounts private, employing robust passwords, and sharing less online.
