How we rate data broker exposure
Every broker profile carries Redact's exposure rating: our editorial assessment of how exposed you are if the broker holds your data. It is an opinion, dated to the profile's last update, and not a finding about the company's conduct or legal compliance.
The six dimensions
Each dimension is scored 1 to 4: 1 is the least exposure, 4 the most.
Data published
How much and how sensitive the personal data they put out. Starts from an editorial estimate based on the kind of service offered, such as a records directory or a paid people-search report. Brokers in the same directory category can have different scores.
On a profile, a score we haven't assessed for that broker shows as "Editorial estimate".
Re-listing frequency
How quickly you reappear after opting out. We start with an editorial estimate based on the kind of service offered. For seized or switched off sites, we can't observe whether records return after removal. Their profiles show Not established.
On a profile, a score we haven't assessed for that broker shows as "Editorial estimate".
Complaint record
The volume and pattern of complaints across BBB, Trustpilot, and Sitejabber. No listing, or a listing with no reviews, counts against the broker. Read from the broker's listings on the review platforms. Where no platform holds a complaint or review about the broker, it shows as No public record. Where we couldn't read the platforms, it shows as Not established.
Opt-out friction
How hard the removal process is to complete. Starts from an editorial estimate based on the kind of service offered, unless we scored it from our own attempt at the broker's opt-out. A broker whose opt-out stopped our attempt from completing is rated 4.
On a profile, a score we haven't assessed for that broker shows as "Editorial estimate".
Operator opacity
How hidden the operating company and its principals are. From our research into who runs the site: its registrations, filings, contact details and the company it names.
Prior data incidents
History of breaches or leaks of the data they hold. From the broker's litigation and breach research. A 3 means a documented incident we can cite. Where a site's score carries a breach at its operator rather than one involving the site itself, the profile says so.
The overall rating
The gauge is the average of all six dimensions, editorial estimates included, placed on a track from Limited to Extensive in four equal bands: Limited, Moderate, Substantial, Extensive. A dimension marked Not established is left out rather than averaged in.
A breach overrides the average. A confirmed breach (a 3 on prior data incidents) holds the overall rating at Substantial or higher, and a major or repeat breach (a 4) forces Extensive, whatever the other five dimensions say. A broker that has already leaked the data it holds is not low exposure, however tidy its opt-out.
Sources
We score from public filings and state data-broker registries, court records, published reporting and the review platforms named above, plus our own walk through the broker's opt-out where we have done one. Each profile shows when it was last updated and how it was put together, and a profile whose opt-out we walked also shows when we last verified it.
Broker practices change, and a rating can lag them. If you spot an error, or represent a company we rate, email support@redact.dev.