Cloakback helps you remove personal information from the internet — fast, discreetly, and effectively.
Section 01 — The Scale of the Problem
Most people assume their personal information online is limited to what they have chosen to share. The reality is far more extensive.
Your full name, home address, phone number, date of birth, email addresses, employment history, family members' names and even photographs may all be available online without your knowledge or consent. This information is compiled and published by an industry of data brokers, people-finder sites, and public records aggregators that most people have never heard of.
In the United Kingdom, data protection legislation offers some rights around how companies handle personal data. However, many of the sites publishing your information are based overseas, operate in legal grey areas, or place the burden of removal squarely on you as an individual — a process that can be time-consuming, technical, and often ignored.
Section 02 — The Sources
Personal data reaches the internet through a variety of routes, many of which you will never have directly consented to.
Electoral rolls, company filings, court records, planning applications and Land Registry entries are all public documents. Data brokers routinely scrape and republish this information in searchable formats.
Companies you have interacted with may sell or share your details with third parties. Loyalty schemes, competitions, and free services often involve data sharing buried in their terms and conditions.
When companies are hacked or suffer security incidents, personal data — including email addresses, passwords and phone numbers — can end up on dark web forums or in publicly accessible databases.
Information you have shared publicly — or that others have shared about you — can be indexed by search engines and aggregated by data brokers. Even old, deleted posts can persist through cached copies.
Sites like Spokeo, Whitepages, and dozens of UK-specific equivalents automatically compile profiles on individuals by cross-referencing multiple public and commercial data sources.
In some cases, personal information — including private images, contact details, or identifying information — is deliberately posted online by a third party without your consent, whether as harassment, revenge, or extortion.
Section 03 — Why It Matters
The accessibility and aggregation of personal data creates serious, tangible risks that affect real people every day.
The aggregation problem: A single data point — your name, your postcode, your employer — may seem innocuous. But when dozens of data points are combined into a single profile, the result is a detailed picture of your life that can be exploited in ways that individual pieces could not.
Identity theft and fraud are among the most immediate risks. With your name, address, date of birth and phone number, criminals can open financial accounts, apply for credit, or impersonate you in ways that can take years to fully resolve.
Stalking and physical harm become a genuine concern when home addresses are easily searchable. This risk is particularly acute for survivors of domestic abuse, public-facing professionals, and those who have cut contact with dangerous individuals.
Targeted scams have become increasingly sophisticated. When a fraudster already knows your name, bank, employer and recent purchases, a phone call or email becomes far more convincing and harder to recognise.
Reputational harm can result from old information, out-of-context content, or maliciously posted material appearing in search results — affecting employment, relationships, and personal wellbeing.
Non-consensual intimate image sharing — sometimes referred to as "revenge porn" — is a criminal offence in England and Wales under the Online Safety Act 2023. Victims can report directly to the police, but identifying and removing images from the internet remains a technical challenge that requires specialist intervention.
Section 04 — The Data Broker Industry
Data brokers are companies whose primary business is collecting, processing, and selling personal information — often without your knowledge.
Most people have never heard of these companies, yet they may hold more accurate and up-to-date information about you than organisations you deal with regularly. Their sites allow anyone — including strangers, employers, or people who wish you harm — to search for detailed profiles on private individuals.
Common data broker sites that may currently list your information:
New information reappears. Even after successful removal, your details may return to a site within weeks or months, sourced from a different data feed. Effective privacy protection requires ongoing monitoring, not a one-time fix.
Section 05 — Images & Visual Content
The unauthorised distribution of personal images is one of the most distressing forms of privacy violation — and one of the hardest to address alone.
Finding where your images appear online manually is practically impossible. A photograph can be copied, cropped, re-hosted, and indexed across hundreds of sites within hours of being uploaded anywhere.
Reverse image search technology can identify where a given image — or visually similar versions of it — appears across the web. By submitting your image to our system, we locate every instance online, regardless of whether it has been renamed, resized, or slightly altered. Once found, we work to have each instance removed through the appropriate channels.
All images you share with Cloakback are processed securely and used solely for the purpose of reverse image searching. They are never shared with third parties, never used for any other purpose, and are permanently deleted once the work is completed (or sooner on your request).
Section 06 — The Removal Process
There is no single mechanism for removing personal information from the internet. Different types of content require different approaches.
Each site requires a formal removal request submitted individually, often with identity verification and email confirmation. Some sites restore removed data automatically when they receive a new data feed — requiring the process to be repeated regularly.
Removal can be requested from Google and Bing under certain circumstances — including personal data exposed in breaches, intimate imagery, and content violating the engine's own policies. These requests prevent content appearing in search results without removing the source.
Content appearing on social media, forums, or websites can be reported for removal. Each platform has its own process, and responses vary significantly in speed. We know which routes are most effective and escalate where necessary.
Under UK GDPR, individuals have the right to request erasure of personal data. Under the Online Safety Act 2023, non-consensual intimate imagery can be reported to Ofcom and to police. We advise on when these routes are appropriate and help prepare the necessary documentation.
Timescales vary. Many data broker removals are completed within 48–72 hours. Some platforms and legal processes take longer. We track every request and keep you updated by email throughout — so you always know what has been removed and what is still in progress.
The Solution
Everything you need to take back control of your personal data online.
We go where other services can't. Many data leaks live on sites that don't appear in normal search results — breach dumps, paste sites, obscure forums, and pages hidden behind access restrictions. Most removal companies simply cannot reach this material because of the technical and access barriers involved. Cloakback actively scours these sources, identifies where your information has been exposed, and works to have it removed — giving you protection that goes far beyond standard data broker opt-outs.
The Process
Three simple steps to a cleaner digital footprint.
Pricing
Choose the level of protection that suits you. No hidden fees, no surprises.
One-Off
single payment
A thorough one-time scan across 100+ data brokers and search engines, with full removal of everything we find.
Monitor
per month
We search for your data on an ongoing basis and handle all removals on your behalf — fully managed, fully hands-off.
Self-Manage
per month
We search for and report exactly where your data appears each month, so you can take control of removals yourself.
What People Say
Real results from real people who reclaimed their privacy.
Cloakback gave me my privacy back in days, not months. I was shocked at how much information was out there about me.
Super easy to use. They handled everything and I got weekly updates. Absolutely worth it for peace of mind.
My phone number, home address, and personal photos had been posted without my consent. Cloakback tracked down every listing and had them removed quickly. I finally feel safe again.
Private images of me were shared online without my knowledge. I felt completely helpless until I found Cloakback. They identified every instance and had them taken down within 48 hours.
Someone had uploaded intimate photos of me to multiple sites. Cloakback removed them all discreetly and kept me updated throughout. I cannot thank them enough.
I had no idea how many data broker sites had my home address listed publicly. The monthly monitoring service caught new listings as they appeared and the team had them removed for me.
After a difficult breakup, my personal details were being shared in places I couldn't reach. Cloakback handled everything professionally and gave me back a sense of control.