Why does Optery combine "Removed" and "Not Found" into one Removals Protection status?

At Optery, our primary goal is ensuring your personal data is removed from data brokers. You may notice that we group Removed and Not Found into a single status. While they sound different, they represent the same result: your personal information is no longer visible on that data broker.

Why we combine these statuses

Privacy removal is a dynamic process. We combine these categories for two main reasons:

1. Overlapping Outcomes:

In many cases, it is difficult to distinguish if a profile was deleted specifically due to an Optery request, a customer’s request, or if the data broker proactively removed it during our scan cycle. Regardless of the cause of the removal, Optery works to verify that your data is no longer being held by the data broker.

2. Verification Timing:

Sometimes personal information is identified during an initial scan, but by the time Optery performs follow-up verification or processes a removal request, the data broker has already cleared the record.

In each case, Optery verifies that the profile is not present. Because the verified outcome is the same, we assign the Removed / Not Found status.

The Bottom Line

The Removed / Not Found status is a positive confirmation. It means that when Optery checked that specific data broker, your personal profile was not detected and is not currently exposed.

Regardless of how the removal occurred, this status confirms that your personal information is not visible on that data broker at the time of Optery’s scan.

Updated on: 04/03/2026