In mid-March 2024, KrebsOnSecurity revealed that the founding father of the non-public knowledge removing service Onerep additionally based dozens of people-search corporations. Shortly after that investigation was revealed, Mozilla mentioned it could cease bundling Onerep with the Firefox browser and wind down its partnership with the corporate. However practically a 12 months later, Mozilla continues to be selling it to Firefox customers.
Mozilla affords Onerep to Firefox customers on a subscription foundation as a part of Mozilla Monitor Plus. Launched in 2018 underneath the identify Firefox Monitor, Mozilla Monitor additionally checks knowledge from the web site Have I Been Pwned? to let customers know when their electronic mail addresses or password are leaked in knowledge breaches.
The ink on that partnership settlement had barely dried earlier than KrebsOnSecurity revealed a narrative exhibiting that Onerep’s Belarusian CEO and founder Dimitiri Shelest launched dozens of people-search providers since 2010, together with a still-active knowledge dealer referred to as Nuwber that sells background studies on folks. This appeared to contradict Onerep’s said motto, “We imagine that nobody ought to compromise private on-line safety and get a revenue from it.”
Shelest launched a prolonged assertion (PDF) whereby he acknowledged sustaining an possession stake in Nuwber, a shopper knowledge dealer he based in 2015 — across the identical time he began Onerep.
Onerep.com CEO and founder Dimitri Shelest, as pictured on the “about” web page of onerep.com.
Shelest maintained that Nuwber has “zero cross-over or information-sharing with Onerep,” and mentioned some other previous domains that could be discovered and related together with his identify are now not being operated by him.
“I get it,” Shelest wrote. “My affiliation with a folks search enterprise might look odd from the skin. In reality, if I hadn’t taken that preliminary path with a deep dive into how folks search websites work, Onerep wouldn’t have the perfect tech and crew within the house. Nonetheless, I now admire that we didn’t make this extra clear previously and I’m aiming to do higher sooner or later.”
When requested to touch upon the findings, Mozilla mentioned then that though buyer knowledge was by no means in danger, the skin monetary pursuits and actions of Onerep’s CEO didn’t align with their values.
“We’re working now to solidify a transition plan that can present prospects with a seamless expertise and can proceed to place their pursuits first,” Mozilla mentioned.
In October 2024, Mozilla revealed a press release saying the seek for a special supplier was taking longer than anticipated.
“Whereas we proceed to judge distributors, discovering a technically glorious and values-aligned companion takes time,” Mozilla wrote. “Whereas we proceed this search, Onerep will stay the backend supplier, guaranteeing that we are able to keep uninterrupted providers whereas we proceed evaluating new potential companions that align extra carefully with Mozilla’s values and person expectations. We’re conducting thorough diligence to seek out the suitable vendor.”
Requested for an replace, Mozilla mentioned the seek for a alternative companion continues.
“The work’s ongoing however we haven’t discovered the suitable different but,” Mozilla mentioned in an emailed assertion. “Our prospects’ knowledge stays protected, and for the reason that product gives lots of worth to our subscribers, we’ll proceed to supply it throughout this course of.”
It’s a win-win for Mozilla that they’ve obtained accolades for his or her principled response whereas persevering with to companion with Onerep nearly a 12 months later. But when it takes so lengthy to discover a appropriate alternative, what does that say concerning the private knowledge removing trade itself?
Onerep seems to be working in partnership with one other problematic people-search service: Radaris, which has a historical past of ignoring opt-out requests or failing to honor them. Every week earlier than breaking the story about Onerep, KrebsOnSecurity revealed analysis exhibiting the co-founders of Radaris have been two native Russian brothers who’d constructed an enormous community of affiliate marketing online packages and shopper knowledge dealer providers.
Attorneys for the Radaris co-founders threatened to sue KrebsOnSecurity until that story was retracted in full, claiming the founders have been in reality Ukrainian and that our reporting had defamed the brothers by associating them with the actions of Radaris. As a substitute, we revealed a follow-up investigation which confirmed that not solely did the brothers from Russia create Radaris, for a few years they issued press releases quoting a fictitious CEO searching for cash from traders.
A number of readers have shared emails they obtained from Radaris after making an attempt to take away their private knowledge, and people messages present Radaris has been selling Onerep.
An electronic mail from Radaris selling Onerep.
In mid-March 2024, KrebsOnSecurity revealed that the founding father of the non-public knowledge removing service Onerep additionally based dozens of people-search corporations. Shortly after that investigation was revealed, Mozilla mentioned it could cease bundling Onerep with the Firefox browser and wind down its partnership with the corporate. However practically a 12 months later, Mozilla continues to be selling it to Firefox customers.
Mozilla affords Onerep to Firefox customers on a subscription foundation as a part of Mozilla Monitor Plus. Launched in 2018 underneath the identify Firefox Monitor, Mozilla Monitor additionally checks knowledge from the web site Have I Been Pwned? to let customers know when their electronic mail addresses or password are leaked in knowledge breaches.
The ink on that partnership settlement had barely dried earlier than KrebsOnSecurity revealed a narrative exhibiting that Onerep’s Belarusian CEO and founder Dimitiri Shelest launched dozens of people-search providers since 2010, together with a still-active knowledge dealer referred to as Nuwber that sells background studies on folks. This appeared to contradict Onerep’s said motto, “We imagine that nobody ought to compromise private on-line safety and get a revenue from it.”
Shelest launched a prolonged assertion (PDF) whereby he acknowledged sustaining an possession stake in Nuwber, a shopper knowledge dealer he based in 2015 — across the identical time he began Onerep.
Onerep.com CEO and founder Dimitri Shelest, as pictured on the “about” web page of onerep.com.
Shelest maintained that Nuwber has “zero cross-over or information-sharing with Onerep,” and mentioned some other previous domains that could be discovered and related together with his identify are now not being operated by him.
“I get it,” Shelest wrote. “My affiliation with a folks search enterprise might look odd from the skin. In reality, if I hadn’t taken that preliminary path with a deep dive into how folks search websites work, Onerep wouldn’t have the perfect tech and crew within the house. Nonetheless, I now admire that we didn’t make this extra clear previously and I’m aiming to do higher sooner or later.”
When requested to touch upon the findings, Mozilla mentioned then that though buyer knowledge was by no means in danger, the skin monetary pursuits and actions of Onerep’s CEO didn’t align with their values.
“We’re working now to solidify a transition plan that can present prospects with a seamless expertise and can proceed to place their pursuits first,” Mozilla mentioned.
In October 2024, Mozilla revealed a press release saying the seek for a special supplier was taking longer than anticipated.
“Whereas we proceed to judge distributors, discovering a technically glorious and values-aligned companion takes time,” Mozilla wrote. “Whereas we proceed this search, Onerep will stay the backend supplier, guaranteeing that we are able to keep uninterrupted providers whereas we proceed evaluating new potential companions that align extra carefully with Mozilla’s values and person expectations. We’re conducting thorough diligence to seek out the suitable vendor.”
Requested for an replace, Mozilla mentioned the seek for a alternative companion continues.
“The work’s ongoing however we haven’t discovered the suitable different but,” Mozilla mentioned in an emailed assertion. “Our prospects’ knowledge stays protected, and for the reason that product gives lots of worth to our subscribers, we’ll proceed to supply it throughout this course of.”
It’s a win-win for Mozilla that they’ve obtained accolades for his or her principled response whereas persevering with to companion with Onerep nearly a 12 months later. But when it takes so lengthy to discover a appropriate alternative, what does that say concerning the private knowledge removing trade itself?
Onerep seems to be working in partnership with one other problematic people-search service: Radaris, which has a historical past of ignoring opt-out requests or failing to honor them. Every week earlier than breaking the story about Onerep, KrebsOnSecurity revealed analysis exhibiting the co-founders of Radaris have been two native Russian brothers who’d constructed an enormous community of affiliate marketing online packages and shopper knowledge dealer providers.
Attorneys for the Radaris co-founders threatened to sue KrebsOnSecurity until that story was retracted in full, claiming the founders have been in reality Ukrainian and that our reporting had defamed the brothers by associating them with the actions of Radaris. As a substitute, we revealed a follow-up investigation which confirmed that not solely did the brothers from Russia create Radaris, for a few years they issued press releases quoting a fictitious CEO searching for cash from traders.
A number of readers have shared emails they obtained from Radaris after making an attempt to take away their private knowledge, and people messages present Radaris has been selling Onerep.
An electronic mail from Radaris selling Onerep.
