Frequently Asked Questions

In progress: Kanary is working on submitting, escalating, and verifying removal. Our scans run on a cadence specific to each site's removal process (some take days, some take weeks) and a full scan every 30 days to check for new exposures and removals.

Action required: We need you to do something before we proceed with removal. Either approve the exposure is harmful and you'd like it removed, verify it's you, or gain additional required info you may not have added to your account on setup.

Verification in progress: We needed to do additional QA on this result. It may have been blocked or low quality due to a site's anti-bot measures. These turn into one of the three statuses above or disappear if invalid.

Removed: We've scanned the site for the data that was there, and found that the data is no longer exposed.

Blocked: We are doing additional research, escalation, or engineering to submit this removal request. We aim to be transparent and encourage you to take action when helpful. For sites blocking requests consistently, we aim to report the site and get it taken offline and/or shut down.

Kanary is specifically designed for people who need to maintain some professional online presence but want to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Here are the specific product features that ensure you can keep the good stuff public and tackle the bad stuff fast:

• Ignoring professional pages allows you to tell Kanary to not work on removing certain posts. When we encounter a result that isn't clearly harmful, we will first ask for your approval before attempting removal. Kanary won't work on removing anything from these ignored listings. You can both add these sites preemptively when you join and ignore them on an ongoing basis if Kanary finds them while scanning.

• Action required will appear on your home page / dashboard when we find a site that needs your approval. You have the opportunity to tell us whether or not to remove them. We don't take action until you tell us to. If you don't see an Action Required section on your dashboard, that means there's nothing for you to do at that time.

Combining the efforts of monitoring and data removal with the efforts of promoting your business, you'll see the good things outrank any possible distractions!

Kanary follows strict internal data access policies to only allow key employees to access your data for the purposes for removing you from websites. This access applies to fewer than 10 people across the entire company. Our privacy policy explains in more depth: Kanary Privacy & Security

Kanary is also compliant with California Privacy Regulation and the EU's General Data Protection Regulation. This requires our company to attain consent to use your information for specific purposes. Our terms state we only use your information to opt you out of sites.

As with all companies, there is some risk with trusting us with your information. That’s the trade-off members make in order to save the time and headache of having to do this work themselves. We take this trust very seriously.

Get $23 off when you help your family & friends get ahead of the next attack.

When someone you refer joins Kanary for 2+ months, you both get $23 off your memberships. By sharing Kanary, you help others take action to protect their privacy & security. And you further protect yourself. Invasive sites publicly post your information alongside former roommates, coworkers & family. The more people you know using Kanary, the stronger the protection.

Kanary is the best way to stay aware and proactive about your unique online identity. Other security tools like dashlane, lastpass, and haveibeenpwned don't give you a personalized or proactive view of your privacy risks. They also don't remove risks or help your resolve them.

You can always add more family members to your account. Family member add-ons are 50% off individual monthly or annual memberships dependent on what your current plan is.

Above 70% for every user of our service. As we find and remove information from thousands of sites, this might change over time. We cannot guarantee information removal but we never stop following up, reporting, and escalating sites that put our users at risk.

We have a 30 day money back guarantee for all accounts. So you'll get a full refund if you cancel in the first 30 days of joining premium, not including the initial 14 day free trial with 3 removals. So all in, you have the first 44 days to decide if Kanary is the right option for you and get your money back.

The annual membership doesn't have a guaranteed prorated refund because we offer an additional discount as a win-win for members who commit to working with us up front. For more flexibility (say, you only want 4-6 months of service), we offer a month-to-month option so you can cancel at any time.

You have the option to add various names, aliases, phone numbers, addresses, usernames, dates of birth and family information so that Kanary can find and remove risks.

For now, Kanary only checks for names, phone numbers, addresses, and usernames. We're working on photo and video capability. If this is a priority for you, please let us know.

We are reviewing and adding new sites to our system constantly (site list here: https://www.kanary.com/remove-from-sites). As we come across new sites or old sites change their terms, we update the expected outcomes to transparently set expectations with our members about what can be removed by Kanary, what requires their attention, and what cannot be removed.

Term: We’re evaluating

Definition: We recently detected this as a possibly harmful site and it is in review by our team. We evaluate a) if it can be removed from b) how removals work c) other alternatives. This status also applies when a site changes and we need to re-review it. We don’t know what the outcome will be because the site requires more research.

Term: Not removed

Definition: The site has policies in place that make removal impossible for our team. We do not offer information updates as a part of our service at this time - it requires additional time/effort to verify the new information. You are welcome to reach out to the site personally to request they update your information. For a site like peoplesearches.com (you flagged this) it is a government data source. So, we aren’t able to remove people automatically at this time.‍

Term: Partial removal

Definition: The site has policies where they remove some but not all information. Same restrictions apply as above ‘Not removed’.

Term: Updated

Definition: A site may update your information if you make the request. This requires member action to submit accurate data to the site and complete whatever verification flow is required by the site.

Term: Escalation

Definition: An email to either the site admin, webmaster, privacy contact or hosting provider. An escalation is sent if the site does not respond / remove your information after the first request. We submit a complaint about the violation of the appropriate data privacy law. Kanary’s team handles these and can send you templates as well if requested. 

Term: Templates / Guides

Definition: We send you templates or guides when action is required for a removal to be completed. This is typically after 2 months of attempting our standard removal process - or - right away if you’re discovered on a site we know requires your attention. Many of these sites may not remove your information if there are no legal grounds to force them to do so. This is why many sites that require escalation or your action are listed as partially removing or not removing information.‍

Kanary has scanned 20,000+ sites and actively monitors the top 325+ harmful sites for members. If a site pops up that we haven't covered, any member can email our support team for a review. We take every exposure seriously and do our best to help.

See the sites we cover ➔

Yes! Kanary offers a free membership for people who want to manage removals themselves. For our removal service, there is no trial option at the moment. If you or your community are interested in trying Kanary before joining, please reach out to [email protected].

We are here to help, [email protected]. However, sometimes reporting an emergency to local law enforcement and reaching out to a lawyer is the best call. We compiled a list of pro bono, nonprofit, and government resources in our latest blog post. We also are here to help however we can. If you have specific and urgent needs, please reach out to [email protected].

You sign up, add family members, immediately scan for your information, and begin removals for known risks. To help every member deal with their unique set of concerns, we have a dynamic approach for finding new sites for every member. No single person's digital presence is the same. You can trigger a scan to run at any time. You may want to update your information or want to scan more frequently than once a month. Members have access to an account where you can review the sites we've found, suggest new sites we may have missed, and help us remove information more quickly by sharing context and information.

You can learn more about Kanary's process under How It Works.

First, we never share or sell your personal information. Second, we examine our use of 3rd party software carefully and use it sparingly. This allows us to have full control and understanding of where your information goes and how it's secured. Finally, we give you options for protecting your account with 2FA. You can read about our security and privacy practices here: Kanary Privacy & Security.

Currently, Kanary only covers addresses within the United States. If you have a US address, you'll be able to sign up for our service. For people outside the US, our top requested locations to cover next are Canada and the UK. Those are on our roadmap. Please reach out to share details on what you're looking for if you are outside of the US. [email protected]

Yes, removing your information is our focus. For free members, we share step by step instructions for sending removal requests yourself. For paid members, we automate as much of the removal process as possible, then our support team actively works with you to stop unwanted websites from sharing your information. There are limits to what can and cannot legally be redacted for privacy, so we help you understand those limits and take steps to protect yourself.

Kanary does not bury or remove bad news articles, unflattering photo or videos. If you're looking for negative press to be removed, we advise working with a local attorney.

Kanary offers discounts for our annual subscription: When you pay for the year upfront, Kanary discounts your membership, and you save 12%. Family member add-ons are 50% off individual annual membership. Please see our pricing page for the latest discounts.

If you haven't provided a credit card during sign-up, there won't be any charges. Following the free trial, your account will automatically downgrade to a free plan. With this free account, you'll have access to quarterly scans and can find DIY instructions on your dashboard.

In certain cases where websites block random or anonymous email aliases, we use a 'dedicated alias' or a personal email for request verification. However, this is solely implemented with the explicit consent of our members. These aliases may incorporate an individual's name to improve verifiability, contrasting with generic emails that websites might otherwise restrict.

With each request, we create a unique & unidentifiable email alias. We send the necessary data for verification, often limited to the already exposed information. Once we complete the request, confirming the removal, and updating the record, we rotate the aliases.

We complimentary removed three exposures from easily and quickly removable sites on your behalf. However, if you don't have any results on such sites, unfortunately, we won't be able to fulfill all three removals.

After your information has been successfully deleted from the source site, it can subsequently be removed from Google and other search engines.