DRAFT — not final

Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 10, 2026

The short version

DataShield is here to get your information off the internet, not to gather more of it. We use only what we need to help you, and you can delete your account anytime. We never sell it, never share it for advertising, and never track you around the web.

What DataShield uses

Only what it takes to find your listings and get them removed:

• Your first name, middle initial (if you give one), last name, city and state, so we know who to look for.
• Which sites you marked This is me, the listing links you pasted in, and how each removal is going.
• Your email address, so you can sign in.
• Your California DROP ID, if you choose to save it.
• The dates you gave or withdrew your permission, so you always have proof of what you approved.
• Your email choices, and which reminders went out, so we never send the same one twice.
• If you pick a paid plan: your plan and your payments. A paid plan requires a credit or debit card on file. That card stays with Stripe, our payment company, and we never see your card number.
• If you pick a paid plan: the permission letter you sign by typing your name, and the removal requests we send for you, with the sites' replies.
• If a plan is for more than 1 person: the email addresses invited to it, and whether each person joined or left.

What we never see

Some things stay with you, on your own phone or computer:

• Your cell phone number, if you type it in.
• Your age range, if you choose one.

Before you sign in, your scan stays only on your device too. Signing out or deleting your account clears these from your device.

When you open a people-search site

Each site's search button opens that company's own website, so you can look for yourself. Your name and city, or your phone number, go straight from your device to that site, never through us. That site's own privacy policy applies there.

How we use it

We use your information only for what you ask for and approve: finding your listings, asking data brokers to remove you, showing you how your removals are going, and keeping your account safe. We never use it for anything else, unless the law requires it.

Proof of what you approved

Each time you tap I agree, or withdraw your permission, the date and time are noted. That way you always have proof of what you approved and when. You can see it on your dashboard and on your printable removal record.

You can withdraw your permission anytime, and we will stop working for you right away. If you have a paid plan, withdrawing also cancels it: you will not be charged again, and you get back the unused part of your plan. Any removal requests we already sent stay in place to protect you. If you ever want one of them cancelled, just tell us.

Emails we send

Only the emails you need: sign-in codes when you ask for one, and a reminder when a site is still listing you after its should-be-gone-by date. Every reminder has a stop link that works without signing in, and you can turn reminders off in the app. No ads and no newsletters.

If you pick a paid plan, we also email you a receipt when it starts, a reminder once a year with your price and how to cancel, an email before any price change, a reminder every 30 days to check your sites (with its own stop link), and a note if you cancel.

If someone invites you to their plan, we email you the invite, at their request. If you are on someone's plan and it ends, or they take you off it, we email you to let you know.

With a paid plan, we also email each site's privacy team for you, as your agent, from support@rlforgeworks.com. Each request has your name, email address, city and state, the links to your listings, and your signed permission letter. Your phone number is never sent. The sites' replies come back to us, so we can see how each request is going.

Every 30 days, we send each site a fresh request, so you stay off. If a site lists you again and you tap It came back, we send that site a new request.

Emails sent to support@rlforgeworks.com, including the sites' replies, reach our support inbox, so we can help you.

Who else sees it

Only those who need it to help you:

• Data brokers, and California's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP): only what they need to find and remove you, and only when you ask us to.
• Cloudflare, which hosts DataShield and receives emails sent to us; Resend, which delivers our emails; and the company that runs our support inbox. They help run DataShield for us.
• Stripe, our payment company, only if you pick a paid plan. Stripe handles your card under its own privacy policy.
• If you join someone's plan, the person who pays sees only your email address, and whether you joined or left. Never your scan, your sites or your requests.
• Anyone the law requires us to share it with.

We never sell your information, and we never share it for advertising.

Cookies and tracking

DataShield uses one small cookie, only to keep you signed in. It ends after 30 days, or when you sign out. No ads, no analytics and no tracking tools. Nobody can follow you around the web through DataShield.

Since we do not track you around the web, a Do Not Track setting in your browser changes nothing here. You are already not tracked.

When your information is deleted

We hold on to as little as we can, for as short a time as we can.

• Your account information: when you delete your account.
• Sign-in codes: they stop working after 10 minutes and are cleared out after that.
• Staying signed in: ends after 30 days, or when you sign out.
• Stop links in reminder emails: after one year.
• Emails in our support inbox: Delete my account cannot reach them, so just email us and we will clear them.

Delete my account erases everything listed under What DataShield uses right away, and it cannot be undone. Copies in our host's automatic safety backups clear out on their own within 30 days. Removal requests already sent to sites stay in place to protect you. If you have a paid plan, deleting your account cancels it first, and you get back the unused days. If people are on your plan, it ends for them too, and their invites are removed. If you joined someone's plan, deleting your account takes you off it.

If you had a paid plan, two small things stay behind, only because the law asks for them, and they are never used for anything else. Stripe holds a record of your payments for tax rules. And we hold a short note that you agreed your plan renews on its own (your email, the plan and the date), for 3 years, or 1 year after your plan ends, whichever is longer, as California law asks.

You are in control

• See your information anytime on your dashboard, and fix it by running your scan again.
• Withdraw your permission anytime, on your dashboard.
• Stop reminder emails anytime.
• Delete your account anytime, in the app.
• Or just email us, and we will do any of these for you.

California residents have the right to know, fix and delete the personal information a business has about them. We give these same choices to everyone, wherever you live. Using any of these choices never changes how we treat you.

Keeping it safe

Your information travels over secure, encrypted connections. Sign-in codes and sign-in keys are scrambled, so not even we can read them. We take careful steps to keep your information safe, though no system can be perfect. And we ask for as little as we can.

Children

DataShield is made for adults 18 and over, and the permission screen asks you to confirm this. If you think a child has used DataShield, email us and we will delete their information.

Changes to this policy

If we ever change this policy, we will post it here with a new effective date. If there is an important change, we will email you before it takes effect.

Contact us

Questions or worries? Email support@rlforgeworks.com.

DataShield is run by RL Forge Works, California.