Sirveil vs Permission Slip: A Free Data-Rights App vs a Full Removal Service
Last updated: July 2026
Permission Slip is a free app created by Consumer Reports in 2022 — and in 2026, Consumer Reports announced it was transferring the app to DeleteMe, which is assuming full operations. It lets you send data requests to companies as your authorized agent, and it deserves genuine respect: it is free, well-designed, and comes from a consumer-advocacy pedigree. Sirveil is a paid service that scans for your exposures and removes them automatically, with dark web monitoring and FOIA filing included. This comparison is honest about when the free app is enough. Facts verified against Consumer Reports' transition announcement and Permission Slip's published materials in July 2026.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Sirveil | Permission Slip |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99/mo or $79.99/yr | Free (optional paid tier introduced under DeleteMe) |
| Core model | Scans for your exposures, then files removal requests automatically | You pick companies; the app sends data requests as your authorized agent |
| Exposure scanning | Yes — AI scan of brokers, people-search, breaches, public records | No — you choose companies from its catalog |
| Dark web / breach monitoring | Yes (DeHashed integration, included) | No |
| FOIA filing | Yes ($49.99 per letter add-on) | No |
| Result verification | Source link + confidence score per finding | Request status per company |
| Mobile apps | Native Android app (iOS coming soon) | iOS and Android apps |
| Operated by | Sirveil, Inc. (independent) | DeleteMe (transferred from Consumer Reports, 2026) |
What Permission Slip Does Well
Credit first. Permission Slip made exercising your legal data rights approachable: pick a company, tap, and the app sends a deletion or do-not-sell request on your behalf as your authorized agent, using the state privacy laws that give you those rights. Consumer Reports launched it in 2022, and the app has helped users submit millions of requests. It costs nothing, and for many people it is the single best free starting point for taking action on data privacy.
If you have never sent a data rights request in your life, downloading Permission Slip and sending your first ten is a great use of an afternoon — whether or not you ever pay anyone for privacy services.
The Ownership Change You Should Know About
In 2026, Consumer Reports announced it was transferring Permission Slip to DeleteMe, the long-running paid removal company, with DeleteMe expected to assume full operations by July 2026. CR said DeleteMe was better positioned to fund the engineering, compliance, and support the app needs. Once the transition completes, DeleteMe's privacy policy and terms of service apply, and DeleteMe has introduced a paid "Permission Slip PLUS" tier.
None of this is inherently bad — DeleteMe is an established privacy company. But an app whose original appeal was "run by a nonprofit consumer advocate" is now run by a commercial competitor in the removal market, under different terms. If provider ownership matters to you (and in this industry it should — see who owns your data removal service), re-read the current privacy policy before continuing to use it.
The Core Difference: Directed Requests vs Discovery
Permission Slip works from a catalog: you choose which companies to send requests to. That is powerful when you know who has your data — but most people don't. Data brokers you have never heard of hold profiles on you, people-search sites republish your address under name variants, and breach dumps circulate your old passwords. A request-sending tool can't fix what you don't know to ask about.
Sirveil starts with discovery. Its AI scan cross-references your name, addresses, phone, email, and date of birth across data brokers, people-search sites, breach databases, and public records — then shows each finding with a source link and confidence assessment, and files legally-cited removal requests for what it actually found. Monitoring watches for reappearance afterward.
The two models are genuinely complementary: Permission Slip is "act on companies I choose," Sirveil is "find everything, then act."
Dark Web, Breaches, and FOIA
Permission Slip does not do breach or dark web monitoring, and it does not touch government records. Sirveil includes DeHashed-powered breach scanning in every subscription and offers FOIA filing ($49.99 per letter) for formal requests about what federal agencies hold on you — a capability no mainstream privacy app offers.
Who Should Choose Permission Slip
- Anyone starting at zero budget — it is free, legitimate, and effective for directed requests.
- Users who know which companies they want to target (retailers, apps, specific brokers).
- People who want to test the waters of data-rights requests before paying for anything.
Who Should Choose Sirveil
- Users who want their exposures found for them — scan-first discovery across brokers, people-search, breaches, and public records.
- Users who want automated, legally-cited removals with per-finding evidence, rather than picking targets manually.
- Users who want breach/dark web monitoring included and FOIA filing available.
- Users who prefer an independent provider with no ties to the people-search industry and no competing product lines.
Verdict
Use Permission Slip. Seriously — it is free, and sending data-rights requests to companies you already deal with costs you nothing but minutes. For a lot of people it is the right first step, and we would rather you take it than do nothing.
Then be honest about its limits: it cannot find your exposures, monitor breaches, watch for relisting, or reach government records — and it is now operated by DeleteMe, a paid competitor, rather than Consumer Reports. Sirveil covers that entire discovery-to-removal-to-monitoring loop for $7.99/month or $79.99/year. The free app and the paid service are not really rivals; one sends the requests you know to make, the other finds the ones you don't.