A data removal service is a solution to the problem data brokers present. While, in theory, it’s possible for individuals to contact these brokers and request their data be removed, in practice, it’s a deliberately challenging process.  First, you have to do extensive research to uncover which companies hold and sell your personal information. Then, you have to contact each data broker site and people search site individually with your opt-out requests. Not only does every broker have a different process, requirements, and processing times, but you’ll have to opt out repeatedly from most of them.  We’ve done this ourselves, manually, many times. A single round of removal can take hundreds of hours. A hassle, but doable. But most data broker websites simply add your profile again after some time has passed, making it necessary to go back and start all over again periodically. This makes removing your data too much of a time commitment for the average internet user.  Personal information removal services like DeleteMe and Incogni make all of this much more manageable by taking the burden off the individual. Most personal information removal services automate the process, eliminating the need for you to do any research, find new data broker sites that have gotten a hold of your information, and send repeated opt-out requests manually.