FAQ

Dark Scrub is a privacy consulting service that removes your personal information from data broker websites, facial recognition databases, and commercial surveillance networks. We also offer vehicle privacy audits, social media hardening, and dating app privacy scans.

We serve clients nationwide. All work is performed by a human operator — not a bot, not a script running unsupervised.

Automated services run scripts against data broker sites and hope the opt-outs go through. They don't verify. They don't follow up. They don't catch edge cases.

We submit every opt-out manually, verify each removal with our own eyes, and re-check at 30 and 90 days to catch re-listings. If your data comes back, we resubmit. You also get a human you can email directly — not a dashboard and a prayer.

Anyone who wants their personal information off the internet. Our clients include people dealing with stalking or harassment, professionals who want to reduce their public exposure, parents protecting their families, people going through breakups or divorces, job seekers cleaning up their digital footprint, and privacy-conscious individuals who simply don't want their data for sale.

Quick Scrub ($99) — Removal from the 10 highest-traffic data broker sites. Best if you want the biggest sources handled quickly.

Deep Clean ($199) — Removal from 21+ sites with a comprehensive sweep. Our most popular tier.

Full Dark ($399) — Everything in Deep Clean plus a facial recognition audit (5-source scan + opt-outs), social media hardening, and dating app privacy review.

Ghost Protocol ($599) — Our most comprehensive service. Everything in Full Dark plus vehicle privacy audit, connected car opt-outs, ALPR exposure mapping, and 90-day verification.

Dating App Privacy Scan ($49) — Account audit, dormant profile deletion, data deletion requests, privacy settings hardening, and photo exposure cross-check.

Vehicle Privacy Scan ($59) — License plate lookup site removal, ALPR exposure mapping, Flock SafeList registration, and connected car data opt-outs.

Facial Recognition Scan ($129) — 5-source facial recognition audit, opt-outs submitted, full report delivered.

Watchdog ($14.99/month) — Monthly monitoring of major data broker sites. If your data reappears, we remove it again automatically.

Overwatch ($49.99/month) — Everything in Watchdog plus quarterly facial recognition re-scans, social media monitoring, and priority response.

Most one-time services are completed within 5-10 business days, depending on the tier. Some data broker sites take longer to process opt-out requests — a few can take up to 2-4 weeks on their end.

You'll receive a progress update within 48 hours of service start and a full report upon completion.

Data broker removal is not permanent. Brokers continuously re-acquire information from public records, commercial sources, and other brokers. Your data can reappear within weeks or months.

That's why we re-check at 30 and 90 days after initial removal. If anything reappears, we resubmit at no extra charge. For ongoing protection, our Watchdog and Overwatch subscription plans provide continuous monitoring and automatic re-removal.

Government public records — Court records, property deeds, voter registration, and business filings are maintained by law. We can advise on state-specific options for restricting access.

News articles and media coverage — We can't force removal of published journalism, but we can request search engine de-indexing in certain circumstances.

Social media posts by other people — We can harden your own accounts but can't control what others post about you.

We're transparent about what we can and can't do. Removing your data from commercial sources eliminates the vast majority of your exposure — and that's where we excel.

1. Contact — Email us or fill out the intake form on our site. We respond within 24 hours.

2. Intake — You complete our intake form with the information we need and sign a service agreement.

3. Payment — We send a payment link. We accept credit cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, and Monero.

4. Service — We begin work within 24 hours of payment. You receive progress updates.

5. Report — You receive a full report of everything found and removed, delivered via encrypted email.

6. Verification — We re-check at 30 days (and 90 days for Ghost Protocol) to catch re-listings.

The basics: your full name (and any former names), date of birth, current and previous addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. This is what we use to find and remove your listings on data broker sites.

For facial recognition audits, we'll need 1-3 photos. For vehicle privacy, we'll need your license plate number and vehicle information.

We collect only what we need to perform the service. Everything is encrypted in transit and at rest, and all client data is deleted within 30 days of service completion.

Via encrypted email to projectdarkscrub@proton.me. ProtonMail provides end-to-end encryption. Do not send sensitive information through the intake form — use it for basic details only, and send photos and documents via encrypted email.

All client data is encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption. All communications are end-to-end encrypted via ProtonMail. We use full-disk encryption on all work devices with automatic screen lock. We do not use cloud storage services for client data.

Photos and identity documents are deleted within 48 hours of completing the relevant service. All other client data is deleted within 30 days of service completion.

Read our full Privacy Policy for details.

No. Never. We do not sell, share, rent, or disclose client data to any third party for any reason. The only third-party services we interact with are the data broker sites and facial recognition databases we're removing you from — and we interact with them on your behalf, to delete your data.

No. We do not use tracking cookies, analytics scripts, or any form of visitor tracking on darkscrub.com. We don't use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any third-party tracking. We practice what we preach.

In the unlikely event of a breach, we notify all affected clients within 24 hours with a full accounting of what data was exposed and what steps we're taking. Our data minimization practices (deleting data after service completion, no cloud storage) mean there is very little data at risk at any given time.

We accept credit/debit cards and Apple Pay/Google Pay via Stripe, PayPal, and cryptocurrency (Bitcoin and Monero). Crypto payments are available for clients who prefer maximum financial privacy.

Payment is due before service begins. We send you a payment link after receiving your signed service agreement and completed intake form. Service starts within 24 hours of payment.

If we are unable to perform the services described in your service agreement, we will issue a full refund. Once work has begun and opt-outs have been submitted, refunds are not available as the work has been performed. If you have concerns about results, contact us — we'll work to resolve the issue.

Yes. Watchdog and Overwatch subscriptions can be canceled at any time. There are no cancellation fees or long-term commitments. Your subscription remains active through the end of the current billing period.