Alternatives to Google's dark web report: what options remain in 2026

The announcement that Google is going to disable its dark web reporting. This has left many users with the same question: "What can I use now to find out if my data is circulating on underground forums or in leaked databases?" For a while, this feature became the easiest and most widespread way to check if emails, phone numbers, or personal addresses had fallen into the hands of cybercriminals. What alternatives to Google's dark web report currently exist?

First, we need to understand why the service is shutting down. Then, we need to look further and see what options are available. The range is wideFrom free tools like Have I Been Pwned to paid solutions with continuous monitoring, identity protection, and real-time alerts. We'll look at them below.

End of Google's Dark Web Report: What it was and when it disappeared

The first thing is to be clear about exactly what is being lost: the Google's Dark Web Report was originally an exclusive feature of Google One. in 2023, and shortly afterwards it became available for free to any user with a Google account, within the "Results about you" section.

This tool allowed users authorize Google to scan the dark web for your personal dataemail addresses, phone numbersName, address, and other identifiers associated with known data breaches. When it detected matches in stolen databases, cybercriminal forums, or illegal marketplaces, it displayed a report and suggested some basic actions.

The service didn't prevent the gaps, but it did serve as early warning system against credential leaksMany used it to check if their accounts had been compromised after a hack, a scam, or a massive data breach on an online service.

However, that cycle has been short: despite its adoption, Google has confirmed the phased shutdown of the service.. From January 15, 2026 It will stop tracking new results on the dark web and, from the February 16, 2026The tool will disappear completely and all data associated with the monitoring profiles will be deleted.

Why Google is shutting down its dark web report and what it will focus on

The official reason has less to do with the quality of the data, and more to do with the "what now?" Google acknowledges that the subsequent steps offered by the tool were not truly practical. For most users, the recommendations were almost always the same: change your password, activate two-step verification, review your account with the Security Checkup…

The company itself has admitted that the report It provided general information but lacked clear and personalized actionsIn other words, it warned that something was wrong, but it didn't provide effective guidance on how to reduce the risk or manage a potential identity theft.

Instead of continuing to invest in this feature, Google wants redirect resources towards preventive and integrated tools in its security ecosystem. This is where elements such as the Security Checkup (Security Review), Google's password manager with compromised password alerts, two-step verification, and above all, the passkeys or access keyswhich reduce reliance on traditional passwords.

Another focus is "Results about you"This feature helps locate and request the removal of personal data (phone number, address, etc.) from search results. In practice, Google is committed to systems that not only tell you there's a problem, but also... It allows you to act from the control panel itself. with less friction.

This change fits into a general strategy: moving from reactive models (finding out when you're already filtered) to proactive models that minimize the impact of future gaps, driven largely by automation and artificial intelligence applied to account security.

What is the dark web and why does it matter to monitor it?

When we talk about the dark web, we're not simply referring to content "not indexed" by Google, but to a layer of the internet. accessible only with specific tools like Torwhere, among other things, stolen databases, criminal forums, credential marketplaces, and services for criminals are concentrated.

In these environments, everything is sold: credit cards, online banking access, email accounts, social media access, corporate services and even records obtained by infostealer-type malware installed on compromised devices.

Dark web monitoring works like a radar that alerts you if your data has ended up circulating in these spacesIt does not directly prevent the original leak (which usually occurs in a service or company that suffers a breach), but it does allow you to react before someone exploits those credentials.

Google has by no means been the only player in this field: there are everything from well-known free platforms to complete enterprise solutions, with continuous monitoring, real-time alerts, and incident response servicesThe advantage of Google's report was its integration and ease of use for millions of people who were already within the ecosystem.

With its disappearance, the need does not change: Cyberattacks, advanced phishing, and large-scale information theft campaigns They continue to skyrocket. In just one year, thousands of publicly disclosed breaches can be counted, in addition to many others that never come to light, and infostealer campaigns that expose hundreds of millions of email and password combinations.

What to do before Google's Dark Web Report disappears

If you still have Google reporting enabled, it's a good idea Take advantage of these months to get the most out of it.Until January 15, 2026, you will continue to receive new results; after that, you will only be able to consult the history until its deletion in February.

You should check if Your emails or phone numbers appear in recorded leaksIdentify which services they have been used on, and change all passwords that are repeated or have not been renewed for too long, especially for banking, social networks and critical services.

It's the perfect time to do a "deep digital cleaning": delete old accounts you no longer use, activate two-step verification (2FA or MFA), migrate to passwords where possible, and check the security and privacy settings of your Google account and other important services.

In addition, you can manually delete your monitoring profile If you don't want Google to keep that data until February 2026, the process from a computer is simple: go to the report page, go to "Results with your information", click on "Edit monitoring profile" and select "Delete monitoring profile".

Once the profile is deleted, The reports and saved matches will disappear.If you prefer to keep the reference for yourself, you can export or note the affected services before deleting it, so that you maintain a list of accounts that require extra monitoring.

Free alternatives to Google's Dark Web Report

Google's withdrawal of the service doesn't mean you're left unprotected. There are several platforms that, without integrating with your Google account, They allow you to check if your data has appeared in known breaches.The major global benchmark is Have I Been Pwned.

Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) It is a website created and maintained by a security expert Troy HuntIt allows you to enter an email address or phone number and tells you which public data leaks it has appeared in. Basic use is free and it has become a trusted tool for both home users and businesses.

HIBP not only lists classic gaps in popular online services; it also incorporates data from massive credential dumps that have come to light over the years. Although it doesn't cover all the content on the dark web (no tool does), it offers a very broad view of the history of your credentials being exposed.

It is reasonable to assume that No free solution will give you continuous and comprehensive monitoring of everything published on the dark webBut by combining HIBP, Pwned Passwords, and breach alerts from the services you use, you can cover a large part of the risk of known massive leaks.

Paid services to monitor leaked credentials and identity

If you need something more advanced—for example, for a business or to protect many personal and family accounts—there are commercial solutions that offer constant monitoring, instant alerts and expert support in case of identity incident.

Among the best known at the consumer level are Identity GuardAura and Norton LifeLockThese platforms go beyond a simple one-off check and include:

• Continuous scanning of the dark web and known sources of leaks.
• Real-time alerts when they detect credentials or sensitive data.
• Credit monitoring and suspicious changes in credit reports.
• Legal advice and support in case of identity theft.
• Insurance with affordable coverage for expenses derived from fraud.

Other services such as socradar.io They provide a free tier with less visibility but useful for corporate domains, while leakradar.io focuses on low-cost leaked credentials, partially replicating what SocRadar offers but reduced almost entirely to compromised accounts.

Solutions such as intelx.io, leaked.domains, spycloud.com or leak-lookup.com They also operate in this arena, offering varying levels of free and paid access. In many cases, the most sensitive and recent data is reserved for professional subscriptions, and the quality and quantity of findings varies considerably between platforms.

In parallel, some security products integrate dark web monitoring modules within broader suites. For example, Malwarebytes includes Identity Theft Protection services that combine dark web scanning, credit protection, social media monitoring, identity recovery agents, and insurance of up to several million dollars against identity theft.

Password managers and breach monitoring

Beyond the dark web "radar," a key element in mitigating the impact of leaks is the use of modern password managers with advanced security featuresThese managers not only store keys, but also help to react when something is leaked.

A clear example is Bitwarden, an open-source password manager that uses strong encryption (AES-256) and zero-knowledge architectureAll information is encrypted and decrypted on your device, so not even the provider can access your data in plain text.

Bitwarden and other competitors include features such as Dark web monitoring and compromised password alerts, identification of reused or weak passwords, and generation of strong, unique passwords for each service. Integrated into browsers and mobile devices, they make it easy to adopt good practices without going crazy trying to remember everything.

In the context of detecting compromised accounts, specific solutions also stand out, such as Keeper with its BreachWatch moduleThis plugin continuously monitors the internet and the dark web for accounts included in your password vault and, if it detects a match to a known breach, It sends a real-time alert so you can change your credentials instantly.

The added value of these systems is that They directly link the discovery of a leak with mitigation action.From the alert you can regenerate the password with a built-in generator, update it in the affected service and, in many cases, activate more secure options such as passkeys where they are supported.

Email, trackers, and privacy: the other major front

Data exposure doesn't just come from massive breaches; it also comes from Silent tracking of email and browsingToday, a very high percentage of marketing emails include invisible pixels that record opens, approximate location, and device used.

According to privacy-focused analyses, More than 80% of the emails analyzed contained some type of tracker before being filtered by security tools. These pixels allow for the construction of highly detailed profiles of your habits and interests, which are then cross-referenced with browsing data and sold to third parties.

There are several strategies to curb this type of surveillance. A basic layer is to use Content blockers like uBlock OriginHighly valued by the community and with open development, they are capable of blocking ads, malicious scripts and most of the trackers that try to sneak through the browser.

Based on that, specific extensions become important for block email trackersTools like PixelBlock (focused on Gmail) automatically detect tracking pixels, prevent them from loading, and display an icon next to the message so you know who is tracking you.

Other alternatives such as Ugly Email or Trocker These extensions function as alert or blocking systems across multiple webmail services, adding visible icons to the inbox and blocking both pixels and link trackers. They perform most of the processing locally.without sending your email activity to external servers.

Email clients, local storage, and encryption

Another interesting piece of the privacy puzzle is the type of email client you use. Webmail services like Gmail or Outlook.com They keep your messages and metadata on the provider's centralized servers., while desktop clients like Mailbird store emails locally on your computer.

In the case of MailbirdThe architecture is designed so that the company cannot access the content of your messages or your metadataSince the data resides on your computer, not on their servers, this reduces the appeal of a direct attack on the email client's infrastructure, because there are no large, centralized databases to steal.

Mailbird collects some usage telemetry (for example, which features are used most) but it does so in a way that anonymized and with the option to disable itThe user can decide whether to contribute aggregated data or not, and the company has been further reducing the personal information it sends to its license management systems.

For those who need end-to-end encryption, the key is to combine this type of local client with encrypted email providers such as Proton Mail or TutaIn the case of Proton, Proton Mail Bridge is used, an application that acts as an encrypted proxy: Mailbird thinks it is talking to a normal IMAP/SMTP server, but Bridge will encrypt and decrypt the messages locally before sending or storing them.

In this way, a Dual layer: vendor-zero access encryption plus local control over storageAlthough the flow is technically more complex, the user experience is very similar to that of a well-configured conventional email client.

Encrypted email services and aliases to strengthen your digital identity

If you want to take an extra step in your privacy, current encrypted email services allow protect the content of messages even from the provider itself.Proton Mail and Tuta stand out here, each with its own approach.

Proton MailBased in Switzerland, it uses OpenPGP standards to offer end-to-end encryption with a philosophy of zero accessThe company operates its own infrastructure in countries with strong privacy protections and has built an ecosystem that integrates email, calendar, contacts, and encrypted storage under the same account.

Tuta (formerly Tutanota) bets on a proprietary encryption protocol In addition to the content, it encrypts sensitive metadata such as subjects or specific timestamps. This reduces the amount of visible information even if someone were able to access the message headers.

One key difference is that Tuta has begun to implement quantum threat-resistant encryptionThinking ahead to a future where current algorithms may be much more vulnerable, Proton, in turn, maintains high interoperability with other PGP users and typically offers a more polished and comprehensive user experience.

To prevent your main steering wheel from rolling all over the place, it's also a good idea to use email alias services like SimpleLogin (now integrated into Proton)These allow you to create unlimited aliases that redirect to your real mailbox and that you can deactivate at the first sign of spam or leaks.

This tactic is very useful when you register with dozens of web services: if one site suffers a breach, you only need to register with one of them. You deactivate the associated alias without touching your main address, and you nip spam or impersonation campaigns linked to that contact in the bud.

Looking at the big picture, the end of Google's dark web report doesn't mean the door is closed to knowing if your data has been leaked, but rather that it forces you to Take a leap towards a more mature and diversified approach to your digital securityBy combining breach detection platforms like Have I Been Pwned, commercial monitoring tools, password managers with alerts, encrypted email, anti-tracking extensions, and strong authentication, you can build a much stronger defense than a single report integrated into your account offered; the key is not to wait for the next breach alert to react, but to make protecting your online identity a constant habit.