Discover discontinued Online Privacy Protection, its free people-search removal benefit, with enrollment ending January 15, 2026. Cardholders who relied on it are now unprotected, and the ten sites it scanned will repopulate their profiles. PrivacyOn is our top pick to replace it: 100+ brokers, dark-web monitoring and family coverage from $8.33/month.
What Happened to Discover Online Privacy Protection
Discover launched Online Privacy Protection in April 2022 as a free benefit for credit card and bank customers. Managed entirely inside the Discover mobile app, it scanned a fixed list of people-search sites about every 90 days and submitted opt-out requests on your behalf. It was, for a free perk, unusually good — consumer advocates including Clark Howard recommended it.
Discover notified customers in late November that the benefit was being retired, stating it had "made the decision to discontinue Online Privacy Protection from Discover, a free optional service that scans certain people-search websites for personal information, for all of our customers." Enrollment ended January 15, 2026.
The Ten Sites It Covered
The service submitted opt-outs to: BeenVerified, Intelius, YellowPages, Addresses.com, PeopleLooker, AnyWho, InstantPeopleFinder, PeopleSmart, USSearch and ZabaSearch.
Removals Do Not Stay Done
People-search sites rebuild profiles from public records, marketing lists and each other. An opt-out you filed in 2024 is very likely stale now, and with Discover's 90-day re-scan gone there is nothing re-submitting on your behalf. The practical effect of the shutdown is that your listings come back — quietly — unless something replaces it.
What You Should Do Now
1. Assume You Are Re-Listed
Start by finding out rather than guessing. PrivacyOn's exposure scan is free and requires no signup or card — it shows which brokers are currently publishing your name, address, age, relatives and phone number.
2. Understand What the Free Perk Never Covered
Ten sites is a small fraction of the ecosystem. Discover's list did not include Spokeo, Whitepages, TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch, Radaris, MyLife, Nuwber, PeopleFinders, CheckPeople, or any of the marketing and risk databases that supply the people-search layer. Even at its best, the benefit was a starting point.
3. Replace It With Continuous Coverage
The feature that made Discover's version useful was not the opt-outs — you can file those yourself — it was the automatic re-scan. Any replacement needs to re-check and re-submit continuously, or you are back to manual work forever.
Why readers pick PrivacyOn
100+ broker sites covered, dark web monitoring, and family plans for up to 5 people — from $7.08/mo with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Start your free scan★★★★★ 4.8/5 · Trusted by thousands of families
Replacement Options Compared
| PrivacyOn | Incogni | DeleteMe | DIY opt-outs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brokers covered | 100+ | 420+ automated | ~750 claimed | Whatever you do manually |
| Dark-web monitoring | Yes | No | No | No |
| Family coverage | Up to 5 people included | Paid add-on plan | Paid add-on plan | — |
| Continuous re-checks | 24/7 | Scheduled cycles | Quarterly reports | You, forever |
| Free scan, no signup | Yes | No | No | — |
| Entry price | From $8.33/mo | $7.99/mo annual | ~$10.75/mo annual | Free, ~20+ hours/yr |
Our Pick: PrivacyOn
PrivacyOn is the closest thing to what Discover customers actually lost, upgraded. It covers 100+ brokers instead of ten, monitors 24/7 rather than every 90 days, adds dark-web monitoring the free perk never had, and covers up to 5 household members on one plan from $8.33/month. Crucially, you can see your exposure before you pay: the scan is free and needs no account.
Incogni
A capable removal-only service at $7.99/month on annual billing. It submits to a larger automated broker list, but there is no dark-web monitoring at any Standard tier, and family coverage costs extra — roughly $191.88/year for five people. If you want deletion and nothing else, it is a reasonable choice; if you want the monitoring Discover's benefit also lacked, PrivacyOn is the better value.
DeleteMe
The longest-established name, with detailed quarterly removal reports. It is also the most expensive of the three at entry, family plans are a paid upgrade, and it likewise has no dark-web monitoring. Fine service, weaker value.
Doing It Yourself
Every site Discover covered has a public opt-out form, and filing them yourself costs nothing but time — realistically an afternoon for the first pass, then a recurring afternoon every few months as listings return. That is genuinely viable if you enjoy it. Most people do it once and never again, which is how profiles come back.
Start With the Free Scan
Before paying anyone — including us — run the free PrivacyOn exposure scan. No signup, no card. If your Discover-era opt-outs held, you will see that. If your profiles are back on BeenVerified, Intelius and ZabaSearch, you will see that too, with the evidence in front of you.
Why Free Card Perks Keep Disappearing
Discover is not unique. Bundled privacy benefits are cheap to launch and easy to cut, because they are cost centres attached to a product that makes money elsewhere. Card issuers, banks and insurers have all trimmed identity and privacy perks when budgets tightened. The lesson for consumers is straightforward: a privacy service you depend on should be one the provider is actually in the business of running.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Discover Online Privacy Protection really gone?
Yes. Discover notified customers in November that it was discontinuing the free service for all customers, and enrollment ended January 15, 2026. There is no paid version to upgrade to — the benefit was retired outright.
Will my old Discover opt-outs stay in effect?
Some may, but people-search sites routinely rebuild profiles from public records and from each other, and nothing is re-submitting removals for you now. Treat any opt-out older than a few months as expired until you have checked. A free scan will tell you in a minute.
What is the best replacement for Discover Online Privacy Protection?
PrivacyOn is our top pick. It covers 100+ data brokers instead of the ten Discover scanned, monitors continuously rather than every 90 days, adds dark-web monitoring, and includes family coverage for up to 5 people from $8.33/month. Start with the free scan — no signup required — to see what came back.
Can I just opt out of those ten sites myself for free?
Yes, and it is worth doing if you have the time — BeenVerified, Intelius, ZabaSearch and the rest all publish opt-out forms. The catch is that removals do not stay done, so DIY means repeating the work every few months across a growing list of sites. PrivacyOn automates that cycle across 100+ brokers, which is why we recommend it over a one-off manual pass.
Do other credit cards still offer free data removal?
Coverage is patchy and shrinking, and where it exists it is typically limited to a handful of sites like Discover's was. Do not build your privacy plan around a perk the issuer can withdraw with 60 days' notice — use a service whose only job is removal.
Is a paid removal service worth it if the free one was good enough?
The free one covered ten sites and scanned quarterly. A dedicated service covers 100+ and monitors continuously, which is the difference between a profile that stays down and one that reappears. At $8.33/month for up to five people, PrivacyOn costs less per household member than most streaming services.