In mid-March 2024, KrebsOnSecurity revealed that the founding father of the private knowledge elimination service Onerep additionally based dozens of people-search firms. Shortly after that investigation was printed, Mozilla stated it could cease bundling Onerep with the Firefox browser and wind down its partnership with the corporate. However practically a yr later, Mozilla continues to be selling it to Firefox customers.
Mozilla provides Onerep to Firefox customers on a subscription foundation as a part of Mozilla Monitor Plus. Launched in 2018 below the identify Firefox Monitor, Mozilla Monitor additionally checks knowledge from the web site Have I Been Pwned? to let customers know when their e-mail addresses or password are leaked in knowledge breaches.
The ink on that partnership settlement had barely dried earlier than KrebsOnSecurity printed 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 known as Nuwber that sells background studies on individuals. 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 stated another previous domains that could be discovered and related along with his identify are not being operated by him.
“I get it,” Shelest wrote. “My affiliation with a individuals search enterprise could look odd from the skin. In reality, if I hadn’t taken that preliminary path with a deep dive into how individuals search websites work, Onerep wouldn’t have the very best tech and staff within the area. Nonetheless, I now admire that we didn’t make this extra clear prior to now and I’m aiming to do higher sooner or later.”
When requested to touch upon the findings, Mozilla stated 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 stated.
In October 2024, Mozilla printed an announcement saying the seek for a distinct supplier was taking longer than anticipated.
“Whereas we proceed to guage distributors, discovering a technically glorious and values-aligned accomplice takes time,” Mozilla wrote. “Whereas we proceed this search, Onerep will stay the backend supplier, making certain that we will keep uninterrupted providers whereas we proceed evaluating new potential companions that align extra intently with Mozilla’s values and person expectations. We’re conducting thorough diligence to search out the precise vendor.”
Requested for an replace, Mozilla stated the seek for a alternative accomplice continues.
“The work’s ongoing however we haven’t discovered the precise different but,” Mozilla stated in an emailed assertion. “Our prospects’ knowledge stays secure, and for the reason that product offers numerous 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 accomplice with Onerep nearly a yr later. But when it takes so lengthy to discover a appropriate alternative, what does that say concerning the private knowledge elimination 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 printed analysis exhibiting the co-founders of Radaris had been two native Russian brothers who’d constructed an enormous community of internet affiliate marketing applications and shopper knowledge dealer providers.
Legal professionals for the Radaris co-founders threatened to sue KrebsOnSecurity except that story was retracted in full, claiming the founders had been the truth is Ukrainian and that our reporting had defamed the brothers by associating them with the actions of Radaris. As a substitute, we printed 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 in search of 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 e-mail from Radaris selling Onerep.