How can I request a fresh Exposure Report scan?
The Optery Exposure Report was revolutionary in the personal data removal category when first released in 2021. Competing services have spent years trying to copy the feature and a few now have rudimentary versions covering a smaller number of data brokers. The Lead Analyst for Security at PCMag.com said this of the Optery Exposure Report:
"Open the report and prepare to be amazed ... Unlike any other product I’ve seen, Optery doesn’t just state that your data was found, like IDX Complete. It also doesn’t simply list the found data items, like DeleteMe. Rather, the report presents you with a screenshot of your actual profile data on the site."
The Optery matching algorithm for the Exposure Report usually does an excellent job of "finding" your profiles with high accuracy, but unfortunately, it is not perfect.
Additionally, it is sometimes constrained by limited profile information beyond the bare minimum required to create an account (i.e. first name, last name, city, state, and birth year). When a user first signs up, Optery queues the Exposure Report scan for 20 minutes to allow time for the user to add more profile info. Then the scan runs. Then the report is delivered in about 1 hour. If you wait beyond that 20 minutes, the first scan will not include the additional info you input.
In cases like this, or others like it, customers often ask "How can I get a fresh Exposure Report scan run?"
Firstly, for paying customers (i.e. Ultimate, Extended, Core), it is not really necessary. This is because Optery performs ongoing scans and removals based on the most up to date profile information on a continual basis. Especially for Ultimate and Extended customers where the initial automated scan is supplemented with subsequent scans and manual reviews by a human privacy agent on an ongoing basis. To be clear though, only the initial Exposure Report and ongoing Removals Reports send screenshots. The other scans are happening in the background and do not send screenshots.
However, some customers have a need to physically see a fresh Exposure Report scan with screenshots immediately. For example, if the first Optery Exposure Report scan ran before the customer was able to input additional profile information, and they would like to see a fresh initial report based on the new information.
For these cases, Optery now has a “Custom Scan” feature where you can manually order fresh scans with screenshots on demand so you can run new scans when you need them, like after updating your profile info.
Optery is also close to releasing new features in the Optery dashboard that provide better visibility into the scan progress and options to queue or expedite scans.
"Open the report and prepare to be amazed ... Unlike any other product I’ve seen, Optery doesn’t just state that your data was found, like IDX Complete. It also doesn’t simply list the found data items, like DeleteMe. Rather, the report presents you with a screenshot of your actual profile data on the site."
The Optery matching algorithm for the Exposure Report usually does an excellent job of "finding" your profiles with high accuracy, but unfortunately, it is not perfect.
Additionally, it is sometimes constrained by limited profile information beyond the bare minimum required to create an account (i.e. first name, last name, city, state, and birth year). When a user first signs up, Optery queues the Exposure Report scan for 20 minutes to allow time for the user to add more profile info. Then the scan runs. Then the report is delivered in about 1 hour. If you wait beyond that 20 minutes, the first scan will not include the additional info you input.
In cases like this, or others like it, customers often ask "How can I get a fresh Exposure Report scan run?"
Firstly, for paying customers (i.e. Ultimate, Extended, Core), it is not really necessary. This is because Optery performs ongoing scans and removals based on the most up to date profile information on a continual basis. Especially for Ultimate and Extended customers where the initial automated scan is supplemented with subsequent scans and manual reviews by a human privacy agent on an ongoing basis. To be clear though, only the initial Exposure Report and ongoing Removals Reports send screenshots. The other scans are happening in the background and do not send screenshots.
However, some customers have a need to physically see a fresh Exposure Report scan with screenshots immediately. For example, if the first Optery Exposure Report scan ran before the customer was able to input additional profile information, and they would like to see a fresh initial report based on the new information.
For these cases, Optery now has a “Custom Scan” feature where you can manually order fresh scans with screenshots on demand so you can run new scans when you need them, like after updating your profile info.
Optery is also close to releasing new features in the Optery dashboard that provide better visibility into the scan progress and options to queue or expedite scans.
Updated on: 01/05/2024
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