Exposure reduction
Removal at the source. Suppression where needed. Ongoing verification.
Exposure reduction takes down what an adversary can find about you, at the brokers, people-search sites and archives that hold it, and keeps it down through the year. It follows the audit, and it is measured by what stays findable, not by how many requests were filed.
Formerly Digital Footprint WipeMany names for the work.
One outcome that matters.
People search for this under a lot of names, and most describe a method rather than a result. Here is how they compare, including the name we used to use.
| What it is called | What it usually means | Where the name falls short |
|---|---|---|
| Data deletion | Requests that a company erase the records it holds about you. | Deletion is one tool. Some records cannot be deleted, and many come back. |
| Data broker removal, opt-outs | Opting out of people-search sites, usually from a published list. | Published lists cover a fraction of the companies that hold consumer data. |
| Personal information removal | Getting your details off the open web: listings, profiles, search results. | Correct as far as it goes. It says nothing about what is sold, inferred or traded out of sight. |
| Reputation management | Pushing unwanted results down in search. | Concerned with what people think of you. A record pushed to page three is still findable. |
| Our former name for this work. | Wipe overstates the work. Some data cannot be deleted, some should stay up, and much of it comes back. | |
| Exposure reduction | What we call it now: removal at the source, suppression where needed, ongoing verification. | Named for the outcome that matters: less that an adversary can find, connect and use. |
Exposure is what matters.
A record matters because someone can find it, connect it to the rest of your life and use it. We measure that, not the paperwork filed against it.
Some data should stay.
Living in a digital world takes some identity: a professional profile, a way for the right people to reach you. Reduction means deciding what stays up, what comes down, and how far down it goes.
It is measured.
The audit sets your score on the Threat Surface Index on day one. The year of reduction is judged by what stays findable, not by how many requests were filed.
Removal at the source.
Suppression where needed. Ongoing verification.
Removal at the source
Removals run against CODEX, the firm's index of the entities that actually hold consumer data, an order of magnitude beyond any public broker list. Brokers, people-search sites, aggregators and the archives behind them, with custom deletions where a standard request will not reach.
Suppression where needed
Where a record cannot be removed, the aim is to make it less useful: harder to find, harder to connect to the rest of a profile. Location-data deletion measures run alongside, so a trail of where you go is not left standing while your address comes down.
Ongoing verification
Scanning continues through the year, because a record that drops from one surface returns on another, and the reduction returns to meet it. You also get plain guidance on limiting what accumulates next, so the following year's audit starts from a smaller surface.
Not everything comes down the same way.
Some of it should not come down at all.
Deletion is not one thing. Depending on where data lives, it can be erased, de-weaponized where the original has to stay, hidden from search, or held down for a while before it returns. And some of it should stay, because living in a digital world takes some identity.
Eradicated
Deleted at the source. The record is gone.
For exampleA broker profile deleted on request, where the company honors it.
De-weaponized
The original stays where it belongs, but it stops being useful to an adversary: brokers and people-search sites stop republishing it and tying it to the rest of your profile.
For exampleA property record stays at the courthouse. That does not mean brokers get to publish it next to your name.
De-indexed
The page still exists, but search engines stop surfacing it, so it takes deliberate effort to find.
For exampleAn old article or forum post no longer returned for your name.
Suppressed, for now
Removed, but likely to return: the company cannot hold the suppression, or daily life generates new breadcrumbs that recreate it.
For exampleA listing that reappears after the broker buys a fresh dataset.
Kept, on purpose
Data that should stay up, managed rather than removed.
For exampleA professional profile, a business contact, a way for the right people to reach you.
The bars show how far down each layer takes the data, from kept to gone
Data brokers and people-search
Deletion and opt-out requests at the source, against CODEX rather than a short public list, with custom deletions where a standard request will not reach.
ExpectThe largest share of the work, and the most likely to come back as brokers buy fresh data. Re-checked through the year.
Social media
Much of it is in your control: old posts, tagged photos, profile details and audience settings. Platform reporting for impersonation and posted personal details.
ExpectThe fastest place to cut exposure, and the easiest place for it to grow back. This is where the guidance on what accumulates next matters most.
Mainstream media
Articles are rarely deleted. Corrections, requests to an outlet to remove a home address or other details, and search de-indexing where it applies.
ExpectUsually de-indexed or edited rather than eradicated.
Dark web
Breach and leak data cannot be pulled back. It is found, assessed and its consequences dealt with: credentials changed, accounts locked down, the exposure watched.
ExpectNot removable. Monitored, and countered where it is used.
Records come back.
So does the reduction.
Information comes back for two reasons. Companies cannot always hold a suppression: brokers buy and re-ingest data, and public records refresh. And the person keeps living in a digital world that generates new breadcrumbs every day. So the work runs as a cycle through the year.
Find
The audit maps what can be found and what it enables.
Remove
Removal at the source, suppression where it cannot be removed.
Verify
Scanning confirms it is gone, and catches it when it returns.
Remove again
Returns are removed again, through the year.
Measure
The annual refresh states what stays findable.
Every year closes with a refresh of the audit, scored on the Threat Surface Index, so the difference is stated rather than assumed.
Part of Obscurity DEP.
Aimed by the audit.
Exposure reduction is the second movement of Obscurity, our digital executive protection program. It runs against what the audit found, so it is aimed at what matters rather than at whatever a list happens to cover.
Exposure discovery
The audit: what an adversary can find, and what it enables. It sets the score the year is measured against.
Movement twoExposure reduction
Removal at the source, suppression where needed, ongoing verification. This page.
AlongsideThreatWatch
For what cannot be removed: continuous monitoring, read by analysts, for threats that are already moving.
Coverage extends to the people an adversary would route through, under Circle of Trust. Levels and what each includes are on the Obscurity page.
Exposure reduction,
in short answers.
Is this the same as Digital Footprint Wipe?+
Yes. Digital Footprint Wipe was our former name for this work. We renamed it because wipe overstates it: some data cannot be deleted, some should stay up, and much of it comes back. The work is the same, run continuously and measured.
Can you delete everything about me?+
No one can, and anyone who promises it is overpromising. Some records are public by law, some return after removal, and new breaches add data. We remove what can be removed, suppress what cannot, and keep checking.
How is this different from an automated removal service?+
Automated services opt you out of a fixed list of people-search sites. We start from an audit of what can actually be found about you, remove against an index an order of magnitude beyond any public broker list, handle custom deletions, and have an analyst decide what matters first.
Does it cover my family and staff?+
It can. Spouses, children, parents, assistants and household staff can be covered under Circle of Trust, because a profile assembled on them is a profile assembled on you.
How do I know it worked?+
The audit sets your score on the Threat Surface Index before the work starts. Quarterly reviews state the reduction plainly, and the annual refresh measures what stays findable.
Start with what they can find.
A confidential call establishes your baseline exposure and the level of engagement it warrants. The best time to reduce your exposure is before it becomes a threat.
Kept that way.