Moving Family to Optery
I have a problem.
My family members keep getting robocalls, scams, email scams, phone calls, advertisements from places they may or may not have ever heard of, and it's cluttering their workflow and daily lives.
So I tried to figure out why this was happening.
Instead of just deleting the clutter, I started scanning through it and analyzing patterns. After digging through everything, I realized the only way this volume of spam happens is if their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) has been exposed somewhere online.
This can happen through:
- Data breaches
- Data collection by companies
- Signing up for platforms without realizing the long-term risks
Sometimes people willingly provide sensitive information without realizing how easily it can end up on insecure platforms or be resold through data broker networks.
So I started thinking about the bigger issue:
How do you stop your name, address, phone number, relatives, and other personal details from being searchable by anyone on the internet?
That’s when I began looking into services that specialize in removing people from people-search websites, and eventually I came across Optery.
My Initial Skepticism
At first, I was skeptical.
Anyone who understands the streets of the internet knows that trusting a company with personal data isn't something you should do lightly.
So I asked myself a simple question:
Would I rather have one company potentially have my information, or hundreds of thousands of data brokers already having it and spreading it everywhere?
Once I thought about it that way, the answer became much clearer.
The reality is that trying to manually remove yourself from every single data broker listed on Optery would take an enormous amount of time and effort. Every broker has different opt-out rules, different processes, and different verification requirements.
I know this because I tried doing it manually for a few of them.
It was a nightmare.
And the worst part?
Even after removing your information, data brokers often rescrape that information again from other sources and repost it.
Using Optery
So I decided to give Optery information that I am 100% confident is already exposed publicly on the internet.
If you feel hesitant about entering publicly available information into Optery, you might want to think about it from another perspective:
If that information is already public, it's exactly the type of information you do not want random people or scammers getting their hands on.
Optery’s intention isn’t to collect your data and run off with it.
There’s a big difference between:
- Collecting data to sell it
- Collecting data in order to remove it from other platforms
Optery collects your data mainly so they can send opt-out requests to data brokers to remove your publicly available information from their websites.
Some brokers unfortunately require specific verification, such as government-issued identification. Because of this, Optery allows you to submit a masked version of your ID, which helps protect sensitive details while still verifying identity.
The Reality of Data Exposure
After going through the process and inputting information for my immediate family members, my parents and my siblings, I began seeing just how much of their information was exposed online.
Honestly, I was flabbergasted.
I’m someone who cares deeply about security and privacy. I lock down my devices as tightly as possible.
Yet despite all of that, data brokers still managed to collect and publish my information.
That’s when it really hit me:
Protecting your devices is important, but it’s not always the source of the problem.
The real issue is the data broker ecosystem itself, where companies continuously collect, aggregate, and resell personal information.
Family Account Features
One feature I really appreciated is how Optery structures its accounts.
When you start, you create a personal account, and within that account you can activate a family plan that allows you to add family members.
This was perfect for my situation.
Not only did I want to protect my own information, but I also wanted to protect my family's data as well. The ability to manage everything under one account, and even receive discounts when adding family members—made the process much easier.
Seeing the Results
When I showed my family members the results of what was found online about them, the reactions were priceless.
The surprise on their faces when they saw just how much information was publicly exposed was unreal.
What I also appreciate is Optery’s transparency.
They provide:
- Screenshots of where your data was found
- Before-and-after screenshots after removal
- Detailed reports showing progress
So you’re not just taking their word for it, you’re actually seeing the evidence of the removals.
And yes… screenshots.
Lots of them.
That level of transparency is something I haven’t really seen from many other data broker removal services.
Final Thoughts
In my personal experience, Optery stands out when it comes to:
- Coverage across data brokers
- Transparency of the removal process
- Flexibility for adding family members
- The ability to submit multiple emails, phone numbers, IDs, and other identifiers
It felt like I could add as much information as needed to properly remove the average person’s exposed data.
Most importantly, I’m glad I was able to help my family reduce the amount of personal information about them floating around on the internet.
Because honestly, I don’t believe it should be legal for these websites to keep that level of personal data publicly searchable for anyone to see for such long periods of time.