Configuring Your Phone and Email Scan and Removals Preferences
By default, Optery does not use the emails or phone numbers you provide for scans or removals. By default, Optery does use the emails and phone numbers you provide for verification and matching, i.e. comparing the contents of your scan results with the phone numbers and emails in your account for increased accuracy. However, you can improve your results by opting in your emails and/or phone numbers for use with Optery scans and removals. What does this mean?
Use for Matching - Optery does this by default to compare the contents of scan results with the information provided in your Optery profile to increase accuracy and verification. If the data broker displays the same phone or email you have provided, that tells us we have a match, and we flag that profile for screenshots and removal. There's nothing you need to do to activate phone numbers or emails to be used for matching.
Use for Scans - If you enable this for a given email and/or phone number, Optery will proactively search for that phone number and/or email address at data brokers to attempt to locate and remove your profile. Currently, only one phone and one email can be designated for the "Use for Scans" feature at a time. Future updates will support scanning for multiple phone numbers and email addresses. Searching for an email or phone number at a data broker will by definition submit that information to the data broker, so some Optery customers prefer not to use this feature for fear of it revealing a phone number or email to a data broker that may not have had it otherwise.
Use for Removals - If you enable this for a given email and/or phone number, Optery will submit that phone number and/or email address to certain data brokers to have your profile(s) removed more effectively. Data brokers undergo rigorous testing before they're approved for email or phone number delivery to ensure they are reasonably trustworthy and we strongly believe the data broker will honor the opt out and not steal the information. Submitting an opt out request with an email or phone number will by definition submit that information to the data broker, so some Optery customers prefer not to use this feature for fear of it revealing a phone number or email to a data broker that may not have had it otherwise.
Learn more about this topic in our Help Desk article: Does Optery share the email addresses or phone numbers I provide with data brokers when opting me out?
Navigate to the Emails tab of the Manage Profile page.
Add the email addresses you’d like scanned.
Click the "Use for Scans" option near the respective email (on desktop) or the three little dots to the right of the email (on mobile) you’d like used for your scans.
Toggle ON or OFF the mark for scan / use for scan setting.
Some data brokers require additional information to accurately identify your profile and process opt-out requests. By opting for Use for Removals, Optery might share select information with these data brokers, to increase the number of brokers from which your information can be removed. You can update these settings at any time.
Navigate to the Phones tab of the Manage Profile page.
Add the phone numbers you’d like scanned.
Click the "Use for Scans" option near the respective phone number (on desktop) or the three little dots to the right of the phone number (on mobile) you’d like used for your scans.
Toggle ON or OFF the mark for scan / use for scan setting.
You can only select one email and one phone number at a time for scanning. Optery's engineering team is working on adding more configuration options, such as running scans on demand for multiple email addresses and phone numbers.
The default setting for the Phone & Email Scan Preferences feature is OFF, which means that you must opt-in to using the phone numbers and emails you input for scans and removals.
Optery does not consider searching for an email or phone number at data brokers as a privacy or security risk, although some people do. If you do not want your email or phone number searched at data broker sites, or if you view this as a risk, do not use this feature and leave it in its default setting OFF.
Use for Matching - Optery does this by default to compare the contents of scan results with the information provided in your Optery profile to increase accuracy and verification. If the data broker displays the same phone or email you have provided, that tells us we have a match, and we flag that profile for screenshots and removal. There's nothing you need to do to activate phone numbers or emails to be used for matching.
Use for Scans - If you enable this for a given email and/or phone number, Optery will proactively search for that phone number and/or email address at data brokers to attempt to locate and remove your profile. Currently, only one phone and one email can be designated for the "Use for Scans" feature at a time. Future updates will support scanning for multiple phone numbers and email addresses. Searching for an email or phone number at a data broker will by definition submit that information to the data broker, so some Optery customers prefer not to use this feature for fear of it revealing a phone number or email to a data broker that may not have had it otherwise.
Use for Removals - If you enable this for a given email and/or phone number, Optery will submit that phone number and/or email address to certain data brokers to have your profile(s) removed more effectively. Data brokers undergo rigorous testing before they're approved for email or phone number delivery to ensure they are reasonably trustworthy and we strongly believe the data broker will honor the opt out and not steal the information. Submitting an opt out request with an email or phone number will by definition submit that information to the data broker, so some Optery customers prefer not to use this feature for fear of it revealing a phone number or email to a data broker that may not have had it otherwise.
Learn more about this topic in our Help Desk article: Does Optery share the email addresses or phone numbers I provide with data brokers when opting me out?
To Configure This for Your Email
Navigate to the Emails tab of the Manage Profile page.
Add the email addresses you’d like scanned.
Click the "Use for Scans" option near the respective email (on desktop) or the three little dots to the right of the email (on mobile) you’d like used for your scans.
Toggle ON or OFF the mark for scan / use for scan setting.
Some data brokers require additional information to accurately identify your profile and process opt-out requests. By opting for Use for Removals, Optery might share select information with these data brokers, to increase the number of brokers from which your information can be removed. You can update these settings at any time.
To Configure This for Your Phone Number
Navigate to the Phones tab of the Manage Profile page.
Add the phone numbers you’d like scanned.
Click the "Use for Scans" option near the respective phone number (on desktop) or the three little dots to the right of the phone number (on mobile) you’d like used for your scans.
Toggle ON or OFF the mark for scan / use for scan setting.
Important Notes
You can only select one email and one phone number at a time for scanning. Optery's engineering team is working on adding more configuration options, such as running scans on demand for multiple email addresses and phone numbers.
The default setting for the Phone & Email Scan Preferences feature is OFF, which means that you must opt-in to using the phone numbers and emails you input for scans and removals.
Optery does not consider searching for an email or phone number at data brokers as a privacy or security risk, although some people do. If you do not want your email or phone number searched at data broker sites, or if you view this as a risk, do not use this feature and leave it in its default setting OFF.
Updated on: 03/26/2025
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