Mozilla launched a subscription service today to assist individuals in finding and deleting their personal and sensitive data from data broker websites. The business states you may erase your phone number, email, home address, and any data broker website information provided for profit.
Mozilla Monitor (formerly Firefox Monitor), a free service that alerts you to data breaches via email, now offers a subscription-based option. The new and optional subscription, Monitor Plus, will allow over 10 million Mozilla Monitor users to perform scans to discover whether their personal information has been exposed and then provide methods to keep it private again.
Information removal from data broker websites is currently complicated. Most sites offer an opt-out page where you can fill out a form or contact the broker to remove your information. However, consumers often don’t realize who has their information online or how to remove it.
Mozilla Monitor actively searches 190 data broker sites that sell personal data to simplify this procedure. If it finds your Mozilla-provided data on any of these sites, such as your name, location, and birthday, it will request removal. Mozilla said the procedure might take a day or a month. This functionality comes with the new Monitor Plus $13.99 per month subscription, which drops to $8.99 per month if purchased annually ($107.88/year).
Free users can search data broker sites once but must manually delete their information. Automatic deletions for this tedious procedure might upsell them to the new subscription service. As previously, free and premium users will receive data breach warnings and tools to remediate high-risk breaches.
“When we launched Monitor, we wanted to help people find exposed personal data. In a launch release, Mozilla Monitor Product Manager Tony Amaral-Cinotto said Monitor Plus will assist individuals in reclaiming their data from data broker sites. “Our long-standing commitment to people’s needs and simple step-by-step process make Monitor Plus unique. We also provide breach warnings and data broker removal to make internet safety easier, he said.
Mozilla requests users’ first and last names, city, state, date of birth, and email to scan. This data is encrypted and follows Mozilla’s privacy policy. Mozilla scans this data to show you where your personal information is exposed, including data breaches and broker sites. The business predicts that 233 million individuals will be affected by data breaches in 2023, making such a solution essential.
Mozilla Monitor Plus includes monthly scans and automated deletions. A free scan and paid service will initially be available exclusively in the U.S., the business said.
