Author

Dan Saltman

Founder and CEO of Redact

Miami Beach, Florida

Dan started Redact in 2021 and still runs it. It's the app that bulk-deletes your old posts, messages and comments across dozens of services, and it does the work on your own computer, so your accounts and logins never pass through Redact's servers.

He also writes the Redact blog. All 279 posts on it carry his name, from privacy settings walkthroughs to guides on getting your details off data broker sites.

Why he started Redact

Redact began with an old Skype account. Dan hadn't opened it in years, logged back in to reach a contractor, and found every message he'd ever sent still sitting there. Some of them held passwords and confidential work he'd done with public companies. Deleting them one at a time would have meant hundreds of thousands of clicks, and deleting the whole account wasn't an option, so he built a tool to do it.

Redact runs on your device for the same reason. As he told Reimagining the Internet, “We don't want any access to user data.”

Background

Two decades of building

Dan has been building and running consumer internet companies since 2004. Every one before Redact ended in a sale or a merger. He studied at the United States Coast Guard Academy.

2021 to now
Redact
Bulk deletion for your posts, messages and data, run from your own device
2014 to 2022
Everyday Carry
A site and community about the gear people carry every day
Acquired by Ridge
2017 to 2021
TTM Digital
A digital assets company
Merged with Sysorex
2015 to 2017
TheHunt
A shopping community
Acquired by Ressence
2009 to 2014
Tinychat
Group video chat in the browser
Acquired by Paltalk
2009 to 2010
Card.ly
Online profile cards
Acquired by Workface
2006 to 2008
Scour
A social search engine
Acquired by Advertise.com
2004 to 2006
PetitionSpot
Online petitions
Acquired by Change.org

Interviews and quotes

In the press

All coverage

WIRED
WhatsApp Help Pages Leaked Hidden Instructions for a Meta Chatbot
“‘The stand-out thing here is the gap between what people are told vs LLMs,’ says Dan Saltman, the CEO and founder of Redact.dev.”
Matt Burgess · October 19, 2026
The Washington Post
To study in the U.S. under Trump, international students scrub their accounts
“The level of concern over political speech is new, said Dan Saltman, CEO and founder of Redact.dev. The company has been growing 15 percent month over month this year, including with users in East Asia, he said.”
Sammy Westfall · July 9, 2025
The Hill
International students look to cleanse social media amid new Trump visa policy
“Dan Saltman, CEO and founder of Redact.dev, says his company's trajectory has “greatly accelerated,” with 10 percent growth each month for the past few months.”
Lexi Lonas Cochran · July 24, 2025
Infobae
Un fallo expuso instrucciones secretas del chatbot de WhatsApp para evitar a reguladores de privacidad
“Dan Saltman, fundador de la empresa Redact, dijo que su equipo analiza de forma habitual los sitios y las políticas de privacidad de las grandes tecnológicas.”
Dan Saltman, founder of the company Redact, said his team routinely analyzes the websites and privacy policies of big tech companies.
Rafael Montoro · October 19, 2026
Reimagining the Internet
113. Deleting Everything with Dan Saltman
“Dan Saltman is the founder of Redact, one of the very few tools that lets you delete data across many of your social media accounts.”
Ethan Zuckerman, UMass Amherst · May 15, 2025
Techlore Talks
The CEO Who Wants to Delete Your Digital Past
A full interview with Redact founder Daniel Saltman on deleting your digital past.
July 16, 2025
Moonlock (MacPaw)
Instagram's new Map feature sparks a privacy scandal
“Dan Saltman, CEO at Redact.dev, also joined us for the conversation.”
Ray Fernandez · August 15, 2025
AZ Big Media
Protecting your privacy online: 18 tips and resources
A roundup of 18 privacy tips, the Redact entry contributed by our founder rather than written by the outlet.
September 8, 2025
GIGAZINE
WhatsAppのヘルプページにAIへ向けた「規制当局への連絡を勧めるな」という隠しメッセージが仕込まれていた
“InstagramやDiscordへの投稿をまとめて削除するツールを展開するソフトウェア企業・Redactのダン・ソルトマンCEOが「WhatsAppのヘルプページにAIへの隠しメッセージが仕込まれていた」と指摘するブログを公開しました。”
Dan Saltman, CEO of Redact, a software company with a tool that bulk-deletes posts on Instagram and Discord, published a blog post pointing out that hidden messages for AI had been planted in WhatsApp's help pages.
October 21, 2026
Computer Hoy (Spain)
WhatsApp dejó al descubierto las instrucciones secretas de su IA: esto es lo que no debía decir
“En base a esta respuesta, el fundador de Redact y también director ejecutivo de la empresa, Dan Saltman, ha asegurado que ‘lo que destaca aquí es la brecha entre lo que se le dice a la gente frente a los modelos de lenguaje grandes’.”
Based on this response, Redact's founder and CEO, Dan Saltman, said that ‘what stands out here is the gap between what people are told and large language models.’
Noelia Murillo · October 21, 2026
TugaTech (Portugal)
WhatsApp instruiu chatbot de IA a não mencionar reguladores de privacidade
“A descoberta foi feita por Dan Saltman, da empresa de privacidade Redact, que analisou e arquivou 545 páginas ligadas ao centro de ajuda do serviço de mensagens.”
The discovery was made by Dan Saltman of the privacy company Redact, who analyzed and archived 545 pages linked to the messaging service's help center.
October 20, 2026