Unknown And Kanary two well known data deletion services. Launched 2022 Surfsharka company best known for its virtual private network (VPN) app, Incogni helps you scrape your personal data from numerous brokerage sites. It scans brokers' websites for your data and sends automatic or manual requests to delete your information.
After the initial scan, Incogni performs frequent repeat scans to protect your data from new broker sites. It's a digital companion that helps protect your online privacy with a monthly or annual subscription.
Brokerage coverage
Incogni officially serves over 420 data broker sites, where it can send automated takedown requests that are quickly processed. This coverage includes some of the largest data brokerage sites around the world. However, it doesn't stop there. Incogni also serves more than 1,000 data broker sites, where it can submit manual deletion requests, although these are not processed as quickly as automated requests.
Notably, Incogni only processes deletion requests for users subscribed to the unlimited plan. Standard plan users are limited to automatic deletion requests on over 420 supported data broker sites.
Kanary supports automatic deletion requests for approximately 300 data broker sites, including some of the most well-known. However, it beats Incogni in terms of manual removal requests, supporting over 20,000 sites.
Kanary staff can help you submit formal manual deletion requests to almost any site where your personal information appears. These requests can take a long time to process depending on the site, but Kanary staff monitors them to ensure quick processing.
Incogni has broader coverage for automatic deletion requests, but Kanary is better at handling manual deletion requests, especially for sites that don't have standard processes for requesting data deletion.
Data Analysis
Both Incogni and Kanary provide key information and reports on pending and successful data deletion requests. Users can access these reports from their dashboard and also receive regular email updates.
At Incogni, I loved receiving email alerts when a pending deletion request was successfully processed. I could also check my dashboard to see the status of each pending request.
After providing my personal information, Incogni's first scan took approximately two days, which is not unusual. After the scan was completed, I received an email notification of this and a notification that Incogni has permission to submit removal requests on my behalf. Once logged in, I tracked the status of each request on my dashboard and received an email alert when each request was successfully processed.
On Kanary, my first scan took about a day, which is shorter than Incogni's two-day scan, but that's to be expected since Kanary covers fewer brokerage sites than Incogni. After the scan was completed, I received an email notification and then logged into my control panel to authorize deletion requests. I could track every pending request from my dashboard – some were successful within a few days, but most took longer.
Removal requests may take up to 90 days or more to process on both Incogni and Kanary, depending on the site. Manual queries take even longer than automated queries from data broker sites.
Incogni and Canary excelled in this category, but I noticed a key difference. Incogni offers a more automated and manual approach, while Kanary offers a more hands-on and manual approach. Both platforms allow me to track data deletion requests through an intuitive dashboard, but Canary required more frequent logins to keep track of these requests and make changes from time to time.
Additional features
Incogni and Kanary offer some complementary features. For example, Kanary also helps you remove personally identifiable information (PII) from Googleeven if the data broker site where the information was stored has not yet deleted it. In this case, Canary submits a removal request to Google on your behalf, and such requests are usually quickly granted.
Both Incogni and Kanary offer repeatable deletions by constantly monitoring the internet for your personal data and sending deletion requests when they find it. However, there are no additional features beyond these. Both platforms focus primarily on deleting personal data and do not offer additional security features such as VPN or dark web data scanning, which I found on some competing data removal platforms.
Ease of use
Incogni provides an intuitive interface accessible through your web browser or mobile app (Android only; no iOS). I found navigation very easy with a control panel with functions neatly placed at the top and all visual elements clearly highlighted on a white background.
In Incogni I provided my personal details and started the scan. The full scan can take up to two days, so a little patience is required: I received an email notification once the scan was completed. After scanning, Incogni sent automatic deletion requests to supported data broker sites. I could also initiate deletion requests manually from the control panel if necessary.
Kanary is also user-friendly, with a dark, retro interface that I liked. It can be accessed through a web browser or by downloading the Kanary Copilot app on your Android or iOS device. Notably, Kanary offers apps for both iOS and Android, unlike Incogni, which is Android-only.
It's a tough choice, but I will say that Incogni offers a slightly more intuitive interface than Kanary, even if both apps are easy to navigate.
Customer support
During testing, Incogni stood out for its abundance of self-help resources. Its official support center contains FAQs and user guides, which I found helpful when navigating the platform, especially for the first time.
If self-help resources are not enough to solve your problem, you can contact Incogni support via email, live chat, or phone. However, phone support is only available if you are subscribed to the unlimited plan.
Kanary also provides self-help resources, mainly FAQs and user guides, available on its website. I have found these resources helpful in solving everyday problems. For complex questions, Canary's support team was just an email away and I received a response within 24 hours. My main complaint is Kanary's lack of phone and chat support, which puts it at a disadvantage compared to Incogni.
Plans and prices
Incogni has four tariff plans: Standard, Unlimited, FamilyAnd Family unlimited. Users can pay monthly or annually, with an annual subscription providing a 50% discount compared to paying monthly.
The Standard plan costs $16 per month, but drops to $96 for an annual subscription ($8 per month, down from $16 per month). With the Standard plan, you can scan your personal data across over 420 broker sites and submit automatic deletion requests.
The unlimited plan costs $30 per month, but drops to $180 for an annual subscription ($15 per month annualized). With this plan, you can scan your personal data and send automatic deletion requests to over 420 sites, as well as manual deletion requests to over 1,000 sites. This plan also provides phone support, while the standard plan is limited to email and chat support.
The Family Plan offers the same features as the Standard Plan, but supports up to 5 users and costs $32 per month. The Family Unlimited plan offers the same features as the Unlimited plan for 5 users at $46 per month. Incogni doesn't have a free trial, but you can request a refund within 30 days if you're not happy with the platform.
Kanary has a simple pricing structure. You can pay either $17 per month or $180 per year (10% discount on the monthly price). After your initial subscription, you can add an additional family member for $8.50 per month or $90 per year. Kanary offers a 14-day free trial.
Which is better?
Choosing between Incogni and Canary seems like a tough choice. Instead of calling one better than the other, I will say that each has its own strengths. Incogni is the best option if you need a platform that will handle recurring takedown requests on your behalf with minimal input from you.
Kanary is ideal for manual deletion requests where you have identified the site where your data is located and want to remove it. On your behalf, Kanary will submit a formal request to the site and use available legal means to remove the data. There is no 100% guarantee that the data will be deleted, but Kanari most often achieves this goal.
