Press coverage
Redact: In the News
What national papers, tech titles, podcasts and privacy blogs have written about Redact.
Front Page
Our coverage in the national and tech press.
WhatsApp Help Pages Leaked Hidden Instructions for a Meta Chatbot
Matt Burgess · October 19, 2026
Read on WIRED“‘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.”
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
How to delete your Twitter history
“Redact is a downloadable app for macOS, Windows, and Linux that deletes posts from an impressively wide variety of services.”
Barbara Krasnoff · August 29, 2023
'Redact' Can Delete Your Posts From 28 Different Social Networks
“Redact, however, is a paid tool with support for deleting posts on 28 different services.”
Justin Pot · March 14, 2025
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
WhatsApp Help pages leak company's hidden instructions titled 'WHAT NOT TO SAY' to users to Meta chatbot
“According to an analysis by privacy company Redact, the exposed instructions covered how the chatbot should respond to questions about account deletion, legal action, privacy regulations and accessibility.”
TOI Tech Desk · October 22, 2026
Data Brokers are Selling Your Flight Information to CBP and ICE
Cites Redact's investigation into the airline-owned data broker selling flight data.
Paige Collings and Matthew Guariglia · July 9, 2025
Threads may offer its own take on Fleets with a disappearing posts feature
“The only way to disappear X posts is via third-party services like TweetDeleter, TweetDelete, TweetEraser, Redact and others.”
Sarah Perez · August 13, 2024

WhatsApp Hid Instructions in Help Pages Telling Its AI Chatbot Not to Recommend Privacy Regulators
“Redact, whose software bulk-deletes users' old posts, messages and data across services, found the first notes on October 8 and published its findings on October 19.”
October 20, 2026

Meta placed hidden instructions on WhatsApp support page for its AI chatbot
“As per a report from privacy firm Redact, Meta placed such instructions in the code of almost 80 pages on the WhatsApp website.”
Armaan Agarwal · October 20, 2026
WhatsApp's chatbot was given hidden instructions to not mention privacy regulators
“Privacy software company Redact discovered the hidden text on October 8.”
Pieter Arntz · October 21, 2026
WhatsApp ha pubblicato per errore le istruzioni per controllare le risposte dell’IA
“È il passaggio più significativo di un’indagine pubblicata da Redact, azienda statunitense specializzata in strumenti per eliminare contenuti online.”
It is the most significant passage of an investigation published by Redact, a US company specializing in tools for deleting online content.
Giuditta Mosca · October 20, 2026
Meta vaza regras secretas para IA do WhatsApp
“A descoberta foi realizada pela Redact.dev, uma empresa focada em monitorar sites de grandes companhias.”
The discovery was made by Redact.dev, a company focused on monitoring the websites of large companies.
Felipe Vitor Vidal Neri · October 19, 2026
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
How to delete all your tweets on X
“We've opted for Redact, which allows you delete all tweets quickly and easily.”
Jasmine Mannan · March 20, 2025
Think you deleted all your embarrassing old tweets? A bug is bringing them back for a wide swath of users
“I then ran Redact and deleted all my likes, my media and retweets.”
Chris Morris · May 22, 2023
Twitter users report deleted tweets return, won't delete
“His account was left with 5 active tweets after using Redact, a service like TweetDelete that helps mass remove a users' own social media posts.”
Matt Binder · May 22, 2023
ICO fines Reddit £14.47M for letting kids slip past the gate
Cites Redact's reporting that Discord dropped Persona as an age-verification partner.
Connor Jones · February 24, 2026
Deleted tweets are reappearing for some Twitter users
“I then ran Redact and deleted all my likes, my media, and retweets. 38k tweets gone.”
Steven Vaughan-Nichols · May 17, 2023
DeviantArt Faces Backlash After Announcing New AI Art Tool
“BEFORE YOU DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT, if you planned to do so, I suggest you use Redact to mass delete your posts.”
November 11, 2022

Google Faces Gmail Lawsuit Over Hidden AI Training Settings
Credits Redact's research as “security experts” on Google's privacy controls.
January 6, 2026
LinkedIn ID verification partner Persona under fire for security concerns
“According to Redact.dev, Discord has now ended its trial of Persona as an ID verification partner in response to the concern.”
Andrew Hutchinson · February 24, 2026
Twitter bug sees deleted tweets resurrected for some users
“I then ran Redact and deleted all my likes, my media and retweets.”
May 22, 2023
Proton VPN end of year report 2025
Cites Redact's reporting on the Discord message scrape.
Douglas Crawford
Deleted tweets revived by Twitter glitch, warn security experts and tech reporters
“Morrell told followers that he had used the digital deletion tool Redact, which helps users clean up and remove posts from multiple social media sites beyond Twitter.”
Matthew Phelan · May 23, 2023
The Wire
Everywhere else Redact has turned up.
Interviews & profiles
Sit-downs with our founder, and pieces written about Redact itself.
- Reimagining the Internet113. 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 TalksThe 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 - Arkansas Democrat-GazetteLET'S TALK: Redact.dev gives you a clean slate
“Redact.dev will go through your social-media history and remove any posts that might come back to bite.”
Helaine Williams · August 1, 2021 - Refresh MiamiFurthering data privacy mission, Mikkola's Usko acquires Redact and releases app
“Redact, the leading app for cleaning up old posts from services like Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and Discord.”
Nancy Dahlberg · October 19, 2022
Guides & recommendations
Walkthroughs and roundups that recommend Redact.
- Komando.comYour personal info is all over the internet. 3 ways to remove it
“That's where Redact comes in.”
Kim Komando · October 30, 2023 - Android PoliceHow to completely erase yourself from the internet
“A free tool called Redact simplifies this process.”
Alan Truly · July 12, 2023 - MakeUseOfHow to Get Rid of Embarrassing Posts from Social Media: The 8 Best Online Tools
“This free app makes cleaning your social profiles a hassle-free task.”
Tamal Das · November 9, 2021 - BeebomHow to Delete One or All Tweets on X (Twitter)
“But there's a popular third-party tool I discovered called Redact.”
Anshuman Jain · July 18, 2024 - wikiHowHow to Delete All Tweets from Twitter/X
- wikiHow4 Easy Ways to Clear Your Reddit History Forever
- wikiHowHow to Delete All Discord Messages from a User in DMs
- wikiHowHow to Delete Multiple TikToks at Once
- wikiHowHow to Unfollow Everyone on Instagram
- Risky Biz NewsTor Project has “urgent need” for 200 new bridges to avoid Russian censorship
“Even if Twitter took down its API, there's still one tool named Redact that can wipe your account if needed.”
Catalin Cimpanu · November 29, 2024 - TechloreBest Data Removal Services in 2026
“Redact targets your own footprint on social media, bulk-deleting old posts, comments, likes, and messages.”
- Intego Mac Security BlogHow to easily remove old Facebook posts and X/Twitter tweetsKirk McElhearn · December 14, 2023
- Make Tech EasierHow to View and Delete Reddit HistoryAlexandra Arici
- AppualsHow to Clear Reddit History on Mobile & Desktop
“Redact is a third-party tool that can delete all your Reddit activity.”
Muhammad Qasim · April 17, 2025 - TCEA TechNotesRedact: Clean Up Your Social Media and Most Used Accounts
“Redact is a free tool that runs on your computer, making the job of removing content from social media easy.”
Miguel Guhlin · February 2, 2024 - Edward KiledjianRedact.dev: A Privacy Tool for the Social Media Age
“Redact.dev is a new software service that enables users to easily delete their old social media posts and messages across multiple platforms.”
Edward Kiledjian · September 27, 2023 - AppAddictRedact Privacy: An App for Cleaning Up Your Internet Presence
“It removes posts, DMs, photos, videos, likes, and other unique content on various social networks.”
Lou Plummer · November 14, 2024 - Grumpy Old Geeks674: Welcome to DOGE! The Department of Grumpy EntertainmentNovember 16, 2024
- AZ Big MediaProtecting 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 - InsideHaltonShould I deactivate my Facebook? Ontario experts weigh in
“Redact for mass deletion of old posts.”
Loraine Centeno · November 17, 2025 - Davidson CollegeOnline Harassment / Doxxing
“Redact offers faculty a powerful tool for managing their digital footprint by automatically deleting old social media posts and direct message history.”
- CIVICUSFrom Platforms to Commons: Practical Tools & Infrastructure
- Activist ChecklistWhatsApp Security Checklist for Activists
Cites Redact's reporting on Meta's camera-roll AI sharing suggestions.
May 29, 2026 - Sports Business Journal49ers long snapper Taybor Pepper talks NFL journey, wearable techJuly 18, 2022
Our research, cited
Newsrooms that ran the numbers from our own surveys and investigations.
- SC MediaWhatsApp removes hidden chatbot instructions from help pages
“The hidden text, discovered by data-deletion software firm Redact, was found in the HTML code of 80 help pages.”
SC Staff · October 22, 2026 - Malwarebytes LabsAge verification vendor Persona left frontend exposed, researchers say
Cites Redact's report that Persona was tested by Discord in the UK.
Pieter Arntz · February 20, 2026 - Orlando SentinelFlorida ranks in top 10 for most internet trolls in America, study says
“Redact.dev, a software program allowing people to scan their social media history and automatically remove any contentious posts, found 22% of social media users in Florida admitted to trolling someone.”
February 1, 2022 - FOX31 DenverLeft or right: Who's more likely to pick political fights online?
“Redact, a service for deleting social media history, surveyed 5,502 social media users.”
DJ Summers · April 26, 2022 - WWJ Newsradio 950Michiganders really are trolls: 13% of internet users confess to abusive behavior
“Trolling is, essentially, one of the main downsides of social media, says a spokesperson for Redact.dev.”
February 8, 2022 - KGUN 9Arizona ranks highest in internet trolls across America, study finds
“Conducted by Redact.dev, the survey shows Arizona ranked higher than the national average of 17%.”
Caleb J. Fernández - NewsRadio 740 KTRHMore Texans Avoid Posting About Politics on Social Media
“A recent survey by Redact found 41% of Texans avoid posting about politics for fear of being ostracized.”
Wyatt Goolsby · December 20, 2021 - Raleigh News & ObserverNC is home to some of the most internet trolls in the US
“Redact.dev found that North Carolina has a higher-than-average number of social media users who have trolled someone (23 percent).”
- WBLM (Maine)New Report Shows Maine is Nearly Leading the Nation In Online Trolls
“Redact.dev, a social media software company, conducted a survey of over 3000 people nationwide.”
- The BayNet (Maryland)Roughly 16% Of Social Media Users In Maryland Admit To Online Trolling In Survey
- La Noticia (North Carolina)Spanish80 % de usuarios temen por contenido de redes sociales cuando mueran
- The Dominion Post (West Virginia)W.Va. has the most trolls, but they aren't under bridgesFebruary 15, 2022
- 92.9 The Bull (Tucson)1 in 6 Claim to Be an Internet Troll. Here Are the States with the MostFebruary 2, 2022
International
Coverage from outside the US, with non-English quotes shown in the original and translated.
- t3nGermanVersteckte KI-Anweisungen: Diese Informationen sollte der Meta-Bot Whatsapp-Nutzern offenbar verschweigen
“Das geht aus einer Recherche des Datenschutzunternehmens Redact hervor.”
This comes from an investigation by the privacy company Redact.
Noëlle Bölling · October 20, 2026 - ClubicFrenchWhatsApp masquait dans ses pages d'aide des instructions interdisant à son IA de recommander un régulateur
“C'est la société Redact, spécialisée dans la suppression de données personnelles, qui a découvert ces instructions en début de mois.”
It was Redact, a company specializing in deleting personal data, that discovered these instructions at the start of the month.
October 21, 2026 - TechTudo (Brazil)Brazilian PortugueseVazamento revela instruções secretas da Meta para IA do WhatsApp
“O material, identificado pela empresa de privacidade Redact e divulgado pelo portal WIRED nesta segunda-feira (19), estava oculto no código de cerca de 80 páginas de ajuda do aplicativo.”
The material, identified by the privacy company Redact and reported by WIRED on Monday the 19th, was hidden in the code of about 80 of the app's help pages.
October 20, 2026 - GIGAZINEJapaneseWhatsApp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)SpanishWhatsApp 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 - Android MT (Ouest-France)FrenchWhatsApp interdisait en secret à son chatbot de citer le RGPD
“La société Redact, qui édite un logiciel de suppression de données en masse, a mis la main sur ce texte le 8 octobre.”
The company Redact, which makes bulk data-deletion software, got hold of this text on October 8.
Matthieu Ilosovic · October 21, 2026 - IlSoftware.itItalianWhatsApp, istruzioni nascoste nelle pagine di aiuto per influenzare le AI
“Il 19 ottobre 2026, la società specializzata nella cancellazione dei dati personali Redact ha pubblicato i risultati di un’analisi avviata l’8 ottobre scorso.”
On October 19, 2026, Redact, a company specializing in deleting personal data, published the results of an analysis it began on October 8.
Michele Nasi · October 20, 2026 - ActuIAFrenchPages d’aide de WhatsApp : une consigne cachée interdisait de recommander un régulateur
“Redact dit avoir repéré les notes le 8 octobre, puis lu et sauvegardé les 545 pages liées depuis le centre d’aide de WhatsApp.”
Redact says it spotted the notes on October 8, then read and saved the 545 pages linked from WhatsApp's help center.
Stephane Nachez · October 20, 2026 - iphone-ticker.deGermanWhatsApp-KI sollte Hinweise auf Datenschutzbehörden vermeiden
“Entdeckt wurden die versteckten Instruktionen von den Sicherheitsexperten Redact.”
The hidden instructions were discovered by the security experts at Redact.
October 20, 2026 - it-daily.netGermanWhatsApp: Versteckte Vorgaben für Support-Chatbot entdeckt
“Entdeckt hat die Texte das Unternehmen Redact, das Software zum Löschen eigener Daten bei Online-Diensten anbietet.”
The texts were discovered by Redact, a company that offers software for deleting your own data from online services.
October 21, 2026 - TugaTech (Portugal)European PortugueseWhatsApp 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 - Mezha (Ukraine)Hidden instructions on WhatsApp's help pages told an AI chatbot not to mention data protection regulators
“Researchers at Redact found hidden text on 80 of the 545 pages in the WhatsApp Help Center.”
October 20, 2026 - India TodaySome Twitter users are seeing their deleted tweets from 2020, a new bug caused it
“He deleted all of his tweets, likes, media, and retweets using a tool called Redact.”
May 23, 2023 - KorbenFrenchSupprimer vos anciens messages Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Discord…
“Redact est une application disponible sous macOS, Windows et Linux qui va vous permettre de faire un bon ménage dans les services en ligne que vous utilisez.”
Redact is an app available on macOS, Windows and Linux that lets you give the online services you use a good clean-up.
Korben · May 17, 2022 - FrandroidFrenchVous ne voulez pas qu'Elon Musk utilise vos données ? Voici comment nettoyer votre compte X (Twitter)
“Une fois votre sauvegarde faite, il vous est possible d'utiliser une application tierce telle que Redact qui vous permet de nettoyer l'ensemble de vos posts sur la plateforme.”
Once your backup is done, you can use a third-party app such as Redact, which lets you clean up all your posts on the platform.
Arthur Rafié · October 21, 2024 - The Star (Malaysia)Want to delete embarrassing old messages on social networks and messengers? Here's how
“American startup Redact offers users the possibility to automatically clean up old publications posted on Facebook and others.”
AFP Relaxnews · May 18, 2022 - Republik (Switzerland)GermanAuf zu neuen Plattformen: Von Twitter/X zu Bluesky
“«Redact» kann für Sie Tweets löschen.”
“Redact” can delete tweets for you.
Basil Schöni · November 27, 2024 - ID.nlDutchWeg met je online sporen: zo schoon je je digitale leven op
“Een tool die dit ondersteunt voor bijna dertig sociale media is Redact.”
A tool that supports this for almost thirty social media platforms is Redact.
Toon van Daele · August 10, 2025 - Villamedia (Netherlands)DutchTooltip: Dit zijn ze: de tien beste tools van 2023
“Redact is momenteel een van de weinige die ook echt werkt.”
Redact is currently one of the few that actually works.
Nick Kivits · December 20, 2023