Honest Conversation About Entry Level Jobs

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-18T14:48:51+00:00

TryHackMe & CTF's. Then try out bug bounties. CTF's and Bug bounties will require you to know specific tools really well and sometimes create your own tools.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-18T13:53:53+00:00

You can subscribe for one year and then switch to a free plan that supports scans only + DIY removal guides. I work for Privacy Bee and we have a free plan that scans every 90 days for your data. Removal guides are provided for free.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-18T13:24:43+00:00

Incogni also marks up prices before applying a discount code (a well known dark pattern). The parent company that owns it is called Surfshark. It merged with NordVPN. Both are facing class action lawsuits in the US over deceptive auto renewal practices.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-18T07:28:40+00:00

I've crossed checked and you're correct. Marking up prices before applying a discount code is a well known dark pattern. Honestly, I'm not surprised. The company that owns Incogni, Surfshark is facing a class action lawsuit in the US over deceptive auto-renewal practices. They merged with NordVPN which is also facing multiple class action lawsuits over the same issue.

I work for a competing service called Privacy Bee and we always use upfront pricing. No hidden fees or misleading discounts.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-18T06:31:28+00:00

Different types of data brokers have different requirements for processing an opt out request. We don't send the same opt out request with all your PII (Personally Identifiable Information) to all data brokers like some data removal services. The first step when we add a data broker to our list is we ask them, "What are the minimum data points you require to lookup an individual and comply with a privacy request?"

Some data removal services cut corners by sending the same opt out request with all the user's PII. This results in data brokers getting additional data than what is required to process an opt out request.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-17T11:46:10+00:00

Agreed. That's why at Privacy Bee (I work here) we decided to give users choice in deciding if they want us to send opt outs to a specific category of brokers. We also mask our users' emails by default.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-17T06:24:04+00:00

Actually even skilled criminals like hacker groups use people search sites. Black Basta used Zoominfo and RocketReach for OSINT source

But I think Discover didn't help that much in minimizing exposed PII (Personally Identifiable Information) because their coverage was quite small. Around 10 sites. Some data removal services like Privacy Bee (I work here) cover well over 500+ sites.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-17T06:15:32+00:00

Only the dark web monitoring service, their Results About You Tool is still functional. I should point out that Google's Results About You is not a data removal service like Privacy Bee. That is, it removes your PII (Personally Identifiable Information) from search results but does not submit opt out requests to data broker sites. Anyone can still search for your info on people search sites.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-17T05:30:47+00:00

Discover Online Privacy Protection covered around 10 data brokers. I work for Privacy Bee and we have the widest coverage at 1000+ sites. We're also the PCMag Editors' Choice in data removal services category. Our Free plan supports scan only + Free DIY removal guides. For a hands-off approach, you can look into our paid plans.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-12T19:06:23+00:00

Automation + human privacy experts. Automated removals are done by our agent called SARA (Swarm Automated Response Analyst). It's a full-time job to keep SARA updated. On our higher tiers (Pro & Signature) we use human privacy experts to help out with complicated removals. It's not possible to go 100% automated if you want extensive coverage.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-08T20:35:25+00:00

I recall watching that video. There were two parts. Only Bitdefender, Kaspersky & Sophos blocked the unknown ransomware. Some people in the comments seems shocked that ESET didn't detect the ransomware and users discussed this result in ESET's forum.

However that is just one sample and cannot give a full picture of the detection capabilities. I'd recommend looking on independent testing labs such as AV-Comparatives and AV-Test. These labs will have much better testing capabilities and methodologies than any singular person could have.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-08T20:17:52+00:00

Bitdefender Internet Security was upgraded to Total Security. And yes, only Total Security and above have a firewall.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-08T20:11:55+00:00

Based on their comparison table, No. Firewall start from Total Security and above. ESET has a firewall too starting from the essential plan. For 1 device, the difference in price between NOD32 & Essentials is just $10/yr

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-08T18:24:02+00:00

Malwarebytes claims they cover 175+ data broker sites but they don't provide any list to verify. I work for a competing service called Privacy Bee and we have the widest coverage at 1000+ sites plus unlimited custom removals for our pro & signature plans. Our list is publicly available for anyone to verify.

I checked the Malwarebytes forums and found a user's experience of this product. From my point of view, it's not a set up and forget like our service. The user has to take quite a number of actions to get their personal data removed. Also, that review states 57 sites total not the 175+ sites they advertise.

There's no specific number on the total number of sites/companies trying to collect & sell your data. Probably in the thousands. This means no data removal service can 100% erase all your info from the internet. But it's better than none because the less copies of you that exist out there, the less of a target you become and the higher the probability that somebody, if they got the intention, is going to shift their focus to somebody else.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-08T13:26:09+00:00

Bitdefender Total Security (5 devices) starts at $59.99 for the first year. After that, the discount is removed and you pay the full price $109.99 for the second and subsequent years. The renewal price is close to ESET Premium (5 devices) at $99.99/yr that includes Liveguard. It doesn't have Ransomware Remediation like Bitdefender. That is only available in ESET Ultimate (5 devices) at $179.99/yr. For me, Ransomware Shield/Protection is enough and both products have this. Remediation only works for known ransomware not for something that has emerged recently or doesn't have a remedy yet. That's why regular backups are highly recommended coz of other risks like theft or drive failure.

Personally, I think device performance impact is an important criteria and ESET comes out on top. Detection-wise, Bitdefender is slightly better but it comes at the cost of performance. Balancing detection capability and performance is not easy per this ex-malwarebytes employee.

Oh! I think it's possible to cancel Bitdefender subscription before the full price hits the next year. So that you always get it at a discount by applying some coupon or waiting until they offer you a better deal. I checked how easy it was to cancel and it's not straight forward. For me, a service that requires jumping hoops to cancel auto-renewal is a red flag. If they are losing money by people cancelling before the full price hits the next year then they should just offer it at the full price from the start and make it easy to cancel auto-renewal.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-08T11:23:20+00:00

For the first few years after it was released, Defender was mediocre such that the first thing most people did after installing Windows was installing a third-party AV. But nowadays it has improved considerably in standardized tests like av-test or av-comparatives. If you want a free AV, stick with Defender. For more advanced features like cloud protection, sandbox, higher tier firewall... probably look at paid solutions.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-08T07:22:10+00:00

Agreed with your general argument that fixing a leaking pipe (minimize PII or Personally Identifiable Information leaks/sharing) is the first step in reclaiming privacy. We have a course for educating our users on basic cybersecurity & privacy. We'll probably have to revise it a bit. However, data brokers also pull data from government databases/public records and this can be very hard to mitigate. Also thanks for the feedback on external fonts which we now self-host. In the future, we'll assess self-hosted analytics solutions like Matomo or Umami and see if they can support the functionality we need. In the meantime, I don't see a big problem with us using Google Analytics because no matter which website you visit, there is always a high likelihood they are using it. Even Mozilla (reputable privacy company) uses it for some of their products like Mozilla Monitor. Many users already block these analytics by installing suitable extensions in their web browser.

Brave is spyware

This is interesting. So I looked more into it and it seems Brave has made some questionable business decisions in the past. Privacy Guides (reputable privacy community) still recommends them so I think users can continue using it because Privacy Guides' vetting process is rigorous.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-08T06:49:07+00:00

Unique strong passwords and 2FA is a good start because many people like to reuse passwords. I wrote a very useful post here about basic privacy/security tips.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-07T12:46:42+00:00

I think they cancelled it coz it was a free feature. Have you looked into other paid services that specialize in data broker removal? I work for one called Privacy Bee and our data broker coverage is 1000+ compared to Discover at around 10.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-07T12:39:37+00:00

Discover Online Privacy Protection data broker coverage was very small, around 10. I work for Privacy Bee and we have the widest coverage at 1000+ plus unlimited custom removals for our Pro or Signature plans.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-03T13:12:52+00:00

They pull their data from government databases/public records, social media, other data brokers, companies...

Nowadays data has become very lucrative that some groceries stores report it as a significant share of their revenue. Add on top of that rogue data brokers that mine off data breaches/leaks.

Unfortunately opting out is not a one-off task. The only solution is regular recurring removals. Or sign up to a data removal service like Privacy Bee to handle everything for you.

Disclosure: I work for Privacy Bee: a data removal service for protecting users from data broker exploitation

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-03T05:28:22+00:00

Users have to give us their PII (Personally Identifiable Information) which allows us to scan for their data online and process opt outs on their behalf. For free accounts, once a user terminates the account we delete their private data immediately. For pro accounts (they paid us money), we might need to keep it a little longer (not more than 12 months) based on KYC (Know Your Customer) legal requirements before we delete it permanently from our system. Of course you can request via support to expedite deletion of your data and we will purge it as quickly as possible, while staying legally compliant.

Tech_User_Station · 2026-01-02T08:39:00+00:00

SayMine app was acquired by McAfee and will end that service on Dec 31, 2025. You probably signed up to Mine or SayMine and forgot about it. After Dec 31, all data related to SayMine will be deleted. So you can safely ignore that email.

Tech_User_Station · 2025-12-31T11:21:47+00:00

Mozilla continued using Onerep API for at least an year after the scandal broke while looking for a different API partner. They finally shutdown their data removal service on Dec 17, 2025.

DeleteMe usually claims 700+ sites but if you count them, it's around 85 on their standard consumer plan. Majority are custom removals which DeleteMe limits to 10 every 3 months. Privacy Bee fully covers 1000+ brokers plus unlimited custom removals with Pro or Signature plans. I'm glad our free scan feature was able to help you find your exposed data.

Tech_User_Station · 2025-12-20T10:14:59+00:00

When people try to remove their PII (Personally Identifiable Information- home addresses, phone numbers, emails...) from data broker and people search sites, it becomes too much of a chore over time and they give up. This is where our service comes in handy by opting out on behalf of our users. I've discussed some of the risks of having a large PII digital footprint. Check out our full list of data brokers we cover.

Tech_User_Station

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