Is Incogni a traditional identity theft protection service?

Most companies that market themselves as identity theft protection services perform the same functions. While plans may differ in the scope of services provided, most offer a combination of providing credit reports to customers, monitoring credit scores, analyzing credit activity, and reporting on suspicious transactions such as new accounts opened in your name, sudden changes in your credit balances, and more. Some companies provide identity restoration services in the event that you are victimized. 

But Incogni doesn't follow that same business model. Instead, the company focuses on one service. It monitors data brokers—there are hundreds of them—to find out whether they are in possession of your personal information. If the company learns that your data has been sold by a data broker, it works to have your personal information deleted from these broker's databases. Each time your data is sold, you're at greater risk of having your identity stolen. In this way, Incogni attempts to stop identity theft before it happens by getting at one root cause of it—having your personal information widely available to both legitimate and illegitimate businesses.

How Does Incogni Work?

To create an Incogni account, you'll be required to furnish basic identifying information such as your name, address, date of birth, and phone number. Incogni will not ask for your social security number. You will also need to sign a form that authorizes Incogni to contact data brokers on your behalf.

Once the service is activated, Incogni begins contacting data brokers and submitting requests that your information be removed from their rolls. The company monitors these requests to be sure they're complied with. It may take a month or so before data removal requests are processed. If a data broker fails to act on your removal request, Incogni follows up until the company responds. The company sends customers weekly progress reports so they can see how well the service is working. Incogni continues to send removal requests to be sure your information isn't made available for sale again. As the company adds more data brokers to its list of brokers, it contacts those brokers, as well.

What Are the Benefits of Incogni's Services?

Your personal data can be bought and sold dozens of times a year. And you might be surprised by who's buying it or benefitting from it. Data brokers may specialize in one or more areas,  including marketing data, recruitment data, financial data, and health data. So the first benefit of using Incogni is preventing more companies from gaining access to your personal records, many of which contain sensitive data. Incogni protects your privacy as it limits your data exposure.

Scammers often target victims on the basis of their income level, health conditions, and religious or political beliefs. They may use the names of your friends and relatives to lull you into a sense of safety. However unwittingly, data brokers effectively serve as accomplices to cybercriminals. They really don't care what happens to your personal information after it's sold. But you can help protect yourself against fraud by working with Incogni to remove your information from data brokers' "catalogs."

With Incogni, you'll be able to add 3 emails, physical addresses and/or phone numbers to your account. This allows you the possibility to remove data connected to older emails. Additionally, once you're working with Incogni, you should see a decrease in the number of unwanted marketing materials in your inbox and fewer marketing calls from companies you've expressed no interest in.

Are There Any Disadvantages to Working With Incogni?

If you're expecting the kind of service a traditional identity theft protection company offers, you won't find it with Incogni. The company doesn't strictly monitor your credit reports or accounts for signs of identity theft. But traditional identity theft protection services are reactive in nature. They're great at helping when things go awry. By contrast, Incogni takes a more upstream, proactive approach by trying to limit the number of times your data is shared with companies who profit by selling it. No identity theft protection service can guarantee you won't be victimized by identity thefts, but Incogni doesn't purport to protect your identity at all. 

How Much Does Incogni Cost?

Incogni's monthly plan costs $14.98, while its annual plan brings down the cost to $7.49 per month ($89.88 annually). Incogni's family plan allows users to invite up to 4 people to join their account and costs $32.98 monthly or $197.88 annually.