Ultra-Wealthy Hire Data-Removal Firms as Executive Security Costs Jump 37.8%
Updated
Updated · Observer · Aug 4
Ultra-Wealthy Hire Data-Removal Firms as Executive Security Costs Jump 37.8%
1 articles · Updated · Observer · Aug 4
Summary
Only 6% of U.S. adults use data-removal services, but wealthy individuals and corporations are increasingly paying for white-glove firms to scrub PII from search engines, data brokers and the dark web.
360 Privacy, which works with 32 of the Fortune 100, said it found 62 profiles for one new wealthy client across hundreds of aggregators, with 93% containing non-public information that could be removed.
The demand is being driven by security risk: attacks on senior executives in 2025 more than doubled from a year earlier, and 51% of security leaders reported cyberattacks targeting executives' personal accounts and families.
That threat has lifted spending, with median executive security costs at S&P 500 companies rising 37.8% from 2024 to 2025; Meta spent more than $25 million protecting CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The market is expanding alongside a $40 billion North American data-broker industry, yet more than 4,000 U.S. brokers operate with limited oversight and experts say even premium services can usually remove only 70% to 90% of data.