Who it is for
Four situations TraceErase helps with
TraceErase is for people in the UK who want to understand their data exposure, strengthen their digital security and take control of personal information held across online services. For each need below, here is what you can do and where the limits are.
- Need 1
Check your security and understand a breach result
You have seen a breach notice, or want to know whether a password or your email address has turned up in a known breach, and what to do next.
What you can do today
- Check a password. Checked in your browser. The complete password is never sent; only the first five characters of a one-way hash of it go to a Have I Been Pwned service.
- With the plan, and when the breach service is available, see which known breaches include your account email address, and read a feed of recently reported breaches.
- Use the practical next steps shown with each result, such as changing a password.
The limit. A result only covers breaches the data service knows about. If the service is unavailable the page says “unavailable”, not “all clear”. TraceErase isn’t antivirus, doesn’t prevent breaches, and sends a breach alert email only if you turn on that separate choice.Needs: Account, and the paid plan for breach information
- Need 2
Clean up accounts you no longer use
You have signed up to shops, apps and services over the years and want to know which still hold an account for you, and how to close it.
What you can do today
- Search a directory of services and mark the ones you use.
- Services whose guidance TraceErase has checked show the date it was checked and its caveats. Others are listed as a place to start.
- Follow each organisation’s own official steps, then ask for erasure or a copy of your data if you want more than closure.
The limit. A listing in the directory isn’t a supported removal. You close accounts on the organisation’s own site, and closing an account doesn’t necessarily erase your data.Needs: Account
- Need 3
Request your data, challenge a response or keep track of a complaint
You want to see what an organisation holds about you, have something corrected or stopped, or you aren’t happy with how they replied.
What you can do today
- Prepare drafts: a subject access request (SAR) to request a copy of your data, a correction, erasure, stop marketing, or a data protection complaint.
- Record what was sent, when it arrived and any reply, in one history.
- See response dates worked out from the dates on record. A date is shown as “needs confirming” when it is uncertain. This is a guide, not legal advice.
The limit. For organisations TraceErase doesn’t handle for you, you review each draft and send it yourself. TraceErase doesn’t submit anything to the ICO, and can’t confirm that an organisation has done what you asked.Needs: Account
- Need 4
Have eligible requests handled for you
You would rather not do it all yourself. For example, you have used a payday, short-term-credit or loan-broker site, and calls, texts or emails from brokers you don’t recognise keep arriving.
What you can do today
- For organisations on the managed list, give written permission that names each organisation and action, shows when it ends and can be revoked. Broker cleanup is the first managed feature.
- Software prepares each request and our team approves the exact wording; TraceErase sends it. A limited number are sent each day, shared fairly between customers, so no time is promised.
- You follow each request, its response date and any reply in one place, and do only the steps that need your own login or confirmation.
The limit. We can’t promise that any organisation erases any record or that all marketing stops at once. Only organisations on the managed list can be handled, it doesn’t cancel a loan, close a credit account or change your credit file, and it isn’t debt advice.Checking whether broker cleanup is open…
Needs: Account, and the paid plan for managed requests
Is it right for you?
TraceErase suits you if you want security checks and clear guidance in one place, you are happy to follow the steps yourself for most things, and you want eligible requests handled for you where an organisation is on the managed list, with a record of what has been done and what is waiting for a reply.
It isn’t the right tool if you want antivirus or device protection, continuous background monitoring, an organisation outside the managed list handled for you, a promise that records will be erased, or help with a loan or a credit file. TraceErase doesn’t close accounts for you, scan broker databases or give debt advice, and it isn’t legal advice.
Take control of your personal data
Create an account to check a password, search the account clean-up directory and prepare or track privacy requests. Organisations decide their own replies, so TraceErase shows what each one says.