Is OneRep Legit? Does OneRep Work for Data Removal in 2024?

OneRep is among the many popular data removal services privacy-conscious folks like you and me use to erase their personal data from the extensive databases of data brokers, using automated opt-out processes. In this review, I’ll compare OneRep to its competitors like DeleteMe and Optery, both of which I’ve extensively tested. I’ll also evaluate how well OneRep can remove data and whether it’s a safe and legitimate service to use. 

By the end, you’ll be equipped to decide if OneRep is the right data removal companion for you or if other alternatives like DeleteMe might be better.

Scroll down to continue reading this OneRep review, or click a link in the table of contents below to jump to a particular section:

How Data Brokers Operate

The rise in the number of websites that scrape and sell your personal information is baffling to me. These sites, known as data brokers, exploit legal loopholes and the absence of privacy regulations to profit from your private personal data.

Major players include:

• Whitepages
• BeenVerified
• Spokeo
• …and hundreds of other similar sites.

They gather data from various public records like social media accounts, government records, court documents, census data, and more, selling it to anyone willing to pay.

What’s even more concerning is how difficult they make it to remove this information. This involves time-consuming tasks like searching, compiling links, and authenticating emails and text messages. Fortunately, data removal services like OneRep exist to help track and remove your personal data from these data broker websites.

What are “Opt Out Requests”?

Legally, data brokers operating in the US or EU must honor opt-out requests. 

You can manually demand that these people-search sites take down your personal information, like your name, home addresses, birthdate, phone numbers, family connections, legal records, and property ownership details. 

The catch is that this approach may require several days or weeks of back and forth with these platforms.  

For a small fee, OneRep or other such data removal services handle all this labor on your behalf. It was the first service to market itself as a “fully automated AI-powered data removal service.” I’ll delve into the effectiveness of this automation process shortly, but first, let’s analyze if OneRep lives up to its claims of security.

Spoiler alert: There appear to be some serious red flags. 

What Data Does OneRep Collect and Why? 

OneRep’s automation technology scours the internet to locate all people search sites and online data brokers possessing your personal data, then send bulk opt-out requests on your behalf.

To enable this search, you must provide OneRep with personal information like your name, email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, and date of birth.

However, what raises concern is that, besides this registration information, OneRep collects significantly more data than its competitors like DeleteMe. This includes: 

• Information provided by payment service providers;
• Device Information;
• Your interactions with OneRep’s website and services;

Collecting users’ IP addresses and device information seems unnecessary as it’s unrelated to OneRep’s core opt-out service. This is definitely apparent when you compare OneRep and Incogni, a service that doesn’t collect such data.

So what can they do with all of this data? 

Privacy Policy: OneRep’s Data Handling Practices

While OneRep’s privacy policy doesn’t immediately raise suspicions. Things become more shady as you look closer.

An investigation by KrebsOneSecurity uncovered that OneRep’s Belarusian CEO and founder, Dimitri Shelest, is also the man behind dozens of people search sites, including a still-active data broker called Nuwber that sells background reports on people.

In response, Shelest admitted to having an ownership stake in Nuwber but claimed that Nuwber has “zero cross-over or information sharing with OneRep” and that he no longer operates any other people search sites. 

One could argue that Dimitri has a better understanding of the data removal companies since he has operated one himself, but it just seems too convenient that he has played and profited from both sides of this issue.

Other companies agree. Mozilla, maker of the popular Firefox browser, ditched its partnership with OneRep citing this conflict of interest as the reason.

Can OneRep Sell Your Data? 

It’s evident that OneRep was caught playing both sides, simultaneously creating and spreading the very digital issue it aims to solve. 

That being said, it is not permitted within OneRep’s privacy policy to sell your data, and it would be a terrible business practice if they did.

The question is, after finding out about this affiliation with data brokers, will you trust OneRep with your sensitive data? 

OneRep Review 2024 | Pros & Cons

As someone who actively manages their online presence, I’ve tested multiple data removal services over the years, including OneRep. While the service has its strengths, it also has some notable shortcomings. 

Let’s delve into the pros and cons of using OneRep for data removal. 

What Stood Out About OneRep

Manually removing your data online is excruciatingly painful, which is why a service like OneRep offers the following advantages:

• Time-saving: OneRep claims to save users an average of 360 hours per year in request removal efforts. As someone who has tried to do this manually before, I can attest that it is a huge time saver.
• Effective Removals: The service claims to have achieved a 90% success rate in reducing users’ online data exposure. It also monitors newly listed profiles and sends monthly reports with their removal status.
• User-Friendly Dashboard: While not as visually polished as some competitors, OneRep’s dashboard provides a functional spreadsheet-style interface to track removals. 
• Free Initial Report: New users can receive a free report before signing up. Simply provide your full name and residence, and you’ll instantly receive detailed results detailing your existing data broker profiles. This report doesn’t remove the listings, it simply lets you know they exist.
• Pricing and Structure: OneRep offers cheaper rates compared to many data removal services I’ve reviewed, like DeleteMe and Optery. This is due to its full automation, which accelerates the removal process and enables cost savings. However, limiting a data removal service to 100% automation may not always be advantageous, as I’ll explain shortly. 

What I Wish Was Different (OneRep Cons)

Here are some areas where I find OneRep lacking:

• Broken trust: This is my main pain point with OneRep. Its past affiliation with data brokers raises serious doubts about the company’s data management practices. Such issues are irreparable, particularly in an industry where privacy is paramount.
• Limited coverage: OneRep removes your data from over 190 broker sites. While the list includes the most popular people search sites, the number appears relatively small compared to DeleteMe, which covers 750+ data brokers, or Optery, which promises removals from 355+ sites.
• Lack of International accessibility: OneRep only works for residents of the US. By comparison, DeleteMe (see our full DeleteMe review) serves users from various countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the UK.
• Lack of Human Advisors: Data removal is an ongoing endeavor, which is why services like DeleteMe and Optery provide each user with a human privacy advisor to discuss progress and accommodate custom requests. OneRep, on the contrary, relies entirely on automated listing removal and doesn’t offer this personalized touch. While OneRep also facilitates custom requests for data brokers it doesn’t cover, this service is only available through their special individual+ plan, whose pricing has been removed from their site. 

OneRep’s Limitations

Many people confuse data removal tools with reputation management services. A data removal tool works to remove personal information from data brokers, while a reputation management service is a bespoke service that seeks to influence search results and media coverage.

OneRep is strictly a data removal service and doesn’t posses the capability to bury information that appears in Google search results or other search engines or to access private social media accounts. 

While it can minimize your digital footprint, OneRep cannot erase the entire internet history.

OneRep Plans and Pricing 

And like most online services, OneRep provides a couple of different plans.

For families, the OneRep family plan covers up to six people, which is a great deal considering the high cost with other providers. OneRep also offers monthly subscriptions, unlike DeleteMe, giving users the flexibility to remove their data and cancel their subscription in less time as needed.

However, users who choose to cancel their subscription may find themselves needing to resubscribe whenever their sensitive personal information resurfaces online. Don’t forget these brokers are relentless.

Furthermore, although OneRep provides a 5-day free trial, canceling either the trial or a paid subscription requires emailing or calling the company, rather than a simple “Cancel” button like DeleteMe provides, resulting in added friction to the cancellation process. 

Setting Up and Using Your OneRep Account

If you’re willing to overlook OneRep’s past affiliation with data aggregators and give it a shot, you can visit their website and create an account.

After your payment goes through, you’ll be directed to a form where you’ll need to provide your name, date of birth, city, ZIP code, state, and other details. You can include multiple name variations or aliases, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses as needed. 

Once you’ve entered your information, you’ll access the OneRep dashboard. New users are guided through an interactive tour of the available features.

OneRep Privacy Report 

OneRep’s deep scan, fully automated by AI, typically completes within a few hours. 

Once you receive your results, they’ll be categorized into four color-coded sections within your OneRep dashboard. Here’s what each category represents:

• Profiles found (Orange): This list includes every data broker site containing your information.
• Potential sites (Yellow): Sites likely to have your data in the future, based on your data and habits.
• Removal in Progress (Blue): Brokers that are being contacted by OneRep for removal.
• Removed (Green): Sites from which your data has been successfully removed. 

For each entry on your OneRep report, you can click “View profile” to see what private information each data broker has about you. OneRep also offers a sample PDF and a DIY opt-out guide for each data broker.

It’s unclear how long these data broker sites take to remove your data. Some may do it instantly, while others claim it could take 6-10 weeks, highlighting the shady nature of data broker businesses.

Proactive Data Protection Measures

While data removal services like OneRep can significantly reduce your digital footprint, it’s also crucial to adopt certain preventive practices to limit identity theft and the data brokers’ ability to acquire your sensitive details in the first place.

These methods include: 

• Mask Your Email and Phone Numbers: Use alternative email addresses instead of your primary accounts for online activities. Many sites let you generate random email addresses for authentication purposes. Similarly, consider leveraging disposable phone numbers rather than your actual contact details when signing up for services.
• Mask Your Financial Data: Utilize various virtual credit card options that enable you to create and manage the card information you use for online purchases or even in-person transactions. 
• Use a Private Internet Browser: If you’re still relying on Google Chrome for your everyday browsing needs, consider switching to privacy-focused Chrome alternatives like Firefox or Brave.

FAQs | OneRep Review

Let’s address some of the most common questions users have about OneRep.

Final Thoughts | Is OneRep Legit?

Despite OneRep’s position as a promising data removal solution, its past affiliation with data brokers is something that I have a hard time overlooking. The concern remains that OneRep may secretly provide users’ sensitive information to the very data firms it purports to combat. 

Ultimately, the choice comes down to your risk tolerance. Personally, I prefer to use DeleteMe over OneRep, given its established trust over the years.

You can further compare the strengths and weaknesses of these two services in our DeleteMe vs OneRep comparison.