- Google announces the discontinuation of its “Dark Web Report” security feature, which monitors the dark web for leaks of personal information such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and personal identification numbers, effective Thursday, January 15, 2026.
- The reason cited is its “failure to provide effective countermeasures.”
- On Monday, February 16, 2026, the “Dark Web Report” tool and all accumulated data will become unavailable.
On Monday, December 15, 2025, Google announced that it will be discontinuing its “Dark Web Report” security feature on Thursday, January 15, 2026. This feature monitors the “dark web”—a part of the web that is difficult to access and often hosts illegal information—for leaks of personal information such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and personal identification numbers. The service was initially launched for paid “Google One” members in the U.S., expanded globally including Japan around mid-August 2023, and was later made available for free in early September 2024.
The reason for discontinuing Google’s “Dark Web Report” is that it “failed to provide effective countermeasures.” While the tool was useful for identifying personal information that had been leaked on the dark web, it appears the service is being terminated because it often received feedback that it was meaningless, as it only identified the leaks without offering further steps to resolve them.
Monitoring for Google’s “Dark Web Report” will end on Thursday, January 15, 2026. One month later, on Monday, February 16, 2026, the “Dark Web Report” tool and all of its accumulated data will become inaccessible, marking the complete termination of the service. Google states that even after discontinuing the “Dark Web Report,” it will “focus on providing clear and practical ways to protect personal information online.”
About updates to Dark Web Report – Computer – Google Search Help
- January 15, 2026: We’ll stop scanning the dark web for new information breaches.
- February 16, 2026: The Dark Web Report tool will no longer be available.
Note that the security tool “Results about you,” which allows users to request Google to remove search results containing their personal information such as a home address, phone number, or email address if found leaked on the internet, will continue to be available after its launch in Japan around Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
An update on Dark Web Report
We’re writing to let you know that we’re sunsetting Dark Web Report, the tool that scans the dark web for your personal information. We’ll stop monitoring for new matches on January 15, 2026, and the tool and its data will no longer be available after February 16, 2026. While this report summarized general information, we received feedback that it didn’t provide effective actions to take. This change is to focus our efforts on providing clear, actionable ways you can protect your personal information online. Google will continue to track online threats, including on the dark web, to keep you safe and will continue to build tools that protect you and your personal information.
After February 16, 2026, the current tool will be unavailable and all related data will be deleted. If you would like to delete your monitoring profile yourself, you can find the steps here.
To enhance your security and privacy, you can use existing tools provided by Google, such as the Security and Privacy Checkups, passkeys, 2-Step Verification, Google Password Manager, and Password Checkup. We also encourage you to use Results about you. This feature lets you find and request the removal of your personal information, like your phone number or home address, from Google Search results. We will continue to provide tips and tools to help you stay safe online.
The Google Team
Source: Google
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