PCMag has awarded Privacy Bee a perfect 5 out of 5 stars and Editors’ Choice recognition, making Privacy Bee the first and only data removal service to earn a perfect 5-star rating from PCMag. Before this review, no service in the category had rated higher than 4.5 stars across PCMag’s 44 years of independent testing. Privacy Bee now stands as PCMag’s highest-rated data removal service and its top recommendation in the category, ahead of Optery and Incogni at 4.5 stars each.
A perfect 5-star rating. Editors’ Choice. Alone at the top of the category.
“Personal information does not get exposed just once. It is continuously collected, rebuilt, and resold,” said Harry Maugans, founder and CEO of Privacy Bee. “That is why we built Privacy Bee around ongoing removals and monitoring instead of treating privacy like a one-time cleanup. To receive the first perfect rating PCMag has ever awarded in this category is an extraordinary honor.”
Neil J. Rubenking, PCMag’s Principal Writer for Security, conducted the review, titled “Unbeatable Data Protection With Industry-Leading Broker Coverage.” Rubenking first evaluated Privacy Bee in 2021 and returned five years later to conclude that it “merits a rare five-star rating,” a score PCMag labels Exemplary.
PCMag recognizes three Editors’ Choice services in the category, and only Privacy Bee holds five stars. The review states that Privacy Bee edges out Optery and Incogni and calls it “the ultimate first choice,” placing Privacy Bee above every data removal service PCMag has reviewed. PCMag’s published ratings as of August 5, 2026: Privacy Bee 5.0 (Exemplary), Optery 4.5, Incogni 4.5, Cloaked 4.0, Kanary 4.0, IDX Complete 4.0, PrivacyHawk 4.0, DeleteMe 3.5, Aura 3.5. Privacy Bee also appears on PCMag’s Best Personal Data Removal Services for 2026 list.
The review credits Privacy Bee with “the most extensive data broker coverage on the market today” and “the most comprehensive service for protecting your personal info from data aggregators.” At the time of the review, Privacy Bee covered 1,128 Data Brokers and supported removals from more than 185,000 custom sites, with the full coverage list published for anyone to inspect. The review also highlighted its breach-to-broker connections, customer-controlled protection settings, and a complete privacy risk assessment that is free to anyone.
The recognition extends beyond one publication. ZDNET tested Privacy Bee head-to-head against DeleteMe and wrote, “I can confidently say I prefer Privacy Bee.” All About Cookies awarded it 4.8 out of 5 and its own Editors’ Choice designation as Best for Digital Footprint Removal, TechRadar rates it 4.5 out of 5, and customers rate it 4.9 out of 5 on Capterra and 4.8 on both G2 and the Apple App Store.
The stakes are real. An exposed home address on a People Search Site is how a stalker or dangerous ex locates someone who moved to get away, and exposed contact details feed scam calls, phishing, doxxing, and identity theft. Because Data Brokers continuously collect, sell, and republish personal records, removal only protects people if it is ongoing. Privacy Bee was built for exactly that: continuous scanning, resubmitted removals, and monitoring that catches information when it resurfaces.
