Brightlines

What Brightlines does

Brightlines is a privately held privacy and personal-safety company that identifies and removes personally identifying information (PII) from the internet to mitigate doxxing, online harassment, and physical safety threats such as swatting. Founded in 2021 and operating from the Washington/Baltimore area with 11-50 employees, the company combines iterative AI analysis with human effort across a four-step workflow: Search (scanning 10+ databases including public records, data brokers, directories, photos, and facial recognition systems), Analyze (risk prioritization and reporting), Scrub (opt-outs and image removals), and Prevent (AI-driven prediction of future exposure). The platform supports Google Single Sign-On, uses anonymized client codes, and operates with NDA-bound personnel and device-security controls. Brightlines was accepted into the Techstars Equitech Accelerator in Baltimore in Spring 2024 and received $120,000 in Techstars-linked funding in March 2024.

The company serves two segments in parallel: individuals seeking personal protection (activists, journalists, healthcare workers, executives, and other high-profile professionals facing targeted harassment) and businesses whose employees are at elevated risk due to public-facing work or online presence, with cybersecurity, HR, and operations teams as the principal B2B buyers. Its go-to-market is hybrid: direct-to-consumer via the website with self-serve one-time engagements, paired with an enterprise field-sales motion driven by 'Protect My Team' and 'Set up a demo' calls to action. Revenue is generated through three pricing tiers: a $1,999 one-time engagement, an annual subscription at $499/month ($5,000 per year) with continuous monitoring and bi-monthly expert analysis, and custom enterprise contracts for organizations with 5 or more people that include anonymized organizational-level threat assessments.

Brightlines has not disclosed revenue, detailed headcount beyond a small founding team (founder Shauna, Meghan, and Stephen Egts), or institutional capital beyond the disclosed Techstars round. It claims 25 trusting companies and lists ecosystem partnerships with Memetica, Grannitt, Pyrra, and Kanary. Advisors include operators from a $10M venture fund and individuals with prior companies valued at over $600M, lending credibility to a trust-sensitive category where brand and mission alignment are competitive differentiators.

Name

Brightlines

Legal name

Brightlines

Website

https://brightlin.es

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Brightlines is a PII removal and anti-doxxing service that combines iterative AI analysis with human effort to scrub personal information from internet databases. It serves at-risk individuals such as activists and journalists, as well as companies whose employees face online harassment, via subscriptions and enterprise plans.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Privacy Protection Services

NAICS

Investigation and Personal Background Check Services (561611), Investigation and Security Services (5616)

SIC

Services-Detective, Guard & Armored Car Services (7381)

akta.pro primary industry

Privacy-Preserving Data (De-identification, Anonymization, PII Redaction) (HDAAALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Responsible AI, Security & Privacy Platforms (Safety, Guardrails, PII) (HDAEANAG), Executive Protection Intelligence & Threat Management (Protective Intelligence) (BPAKABAI)

Keywords

• PII removal services
• Doxxing protection
• Personal data scrubbing
• Online privacy protection
• Executive threat monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Subscription Plans: Monthly or annual subscriptions providing continuous PII monitoring, scanning, scrubbing, and expert analysis. Annual subscription at $499/month ($5,000/year) includes monthly scan + scrub, continuous PII searches, and bi-monthly expert analysis.
2. One-time Engagement: Single $1,999 engagement for one full scan + scrub with one-time expert analysis, threat landscape assessment, and personalized security recommendations. No recurring searches or support.
3. Enterprise Custom: Custom pricing for organizations with 5+ people, including anonymized organizational-level analysis and threat landscape assessment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Brightlines identifies and scrubs personally identifying information (PII) from the internet through a four-step process (Search, Analyze, Scrub, Prevent), combining iterative AI analysis with human effort across public records, photos, directories, data brokers, and facial recognition systems. It offers one-time engagements, recurring individual subscriptions, and custom enterprise plans to protect individuals and employees from doxxing, swatting, and online-to-offline harassment.

Product overview

Brightlines offers a unified privacy protection platform with three service tiers (1x, Annual, Enterprise) designed to identify and remove personal identifying information (PII) from the internet. The core platform combines iterative AI analysis with human expertise through a four-stage process: Search (scanning 10+ databases), Analyze (risk prioritization and assessment), Scrub (PII takedown via opt-outs and image removals), and Prevent (AI-powered future risk prediction). The service protects individuals and organizations from doxxing, swatting, and online harassment escalating to physical threats. Pricing ranges from one-time $1,999 engagement to $499/month subscription to custom enterprise plans.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 1x Plan One-time engagement for individuals: one full PII scan and scrub, a single report covering found PII, removals, and top concerns, plus one-time expert analysis, threat landscape assessment, and personalized security recommendations. No recurring searches or support. Priced at $1,999.
• Annual Plan Individual annual subscription: monthly scan and scrub, monthly updates on found PII and removals, continuous PII searches, bi-monthly expert analysis, threat landscape assessment, personalized security recommendations, and dedicated support. Priced at $499/month ($5,000/year).
• Enterprise Plan Custom annual subscription for organizations of 5 or more people, providing anonymized organizational-level analysis and threat landscape assessment, with all services delivered separately for each individual. Discounts are available for groups of 5 or more.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90 million Americans get doxxed every year
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and minor.

• Techstars Equitech AcceleratorflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2024Brightlines accepted into Techstars Equitech Accelerator Spring Class of 2024. The accelerator combines Techstars' entrepreneurial strengths with Upsurge Baltimore's philosophy of building a framework where all belong. Provides mentorship, networking, and programming to enhance Brightlines' ability to impact communities that benefit most from their work.
• MemeticaminorOthersListed as a partner on the About page under 'Our Partners' section.
• GrannittminorOthersListed as a partner on the About page under 'Our Partners' section.
• PyrraminorOthersListed as a partner on the About page under 'Our Partners' section.
• KanaryminorOthersListed as a partner on the About page under 'Our Partners' section.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Optery: Optery provides PII removal and exposure reports for individuals and businesses across hundreds of data broker sites. It is frequently compared head-to-head with DeleteMe and targets the same privacy-conscious consumer and security-team buyer that Brightlines serves.
• DeleteMe: DeleteMe is a leading consumer and enterprise PII removal service that scans data brokers and submits opt-out requests on a recurring basis. It is the most established direct competitor to Brightlines' core scan-and-scrub offering and serves both individual and B2B buyers.
• Privacy Duck: Privacy Duck is a PII removal service focused on individuals and families, performing manual opt-outs across dozens of data broker sites. It competes with Brightlines for the privacy-conscious, high-risk individual buyer.
• OneRep: OneRep automates opt-out removals from data broker sites for individuals and families. It directly competes with Brightlines on the consumer subscription tier and on the recurring-scan value proposition.
• Kanary: Kanary is a privacy service that helps individuals remove exposed personal information and addresses from people-search and data broker sites. Kanary is even listed as a partner on Brightlines' About page, underscoring how closely their offerings overlap.
• ReputationDefender: ReputationDefender (part of Gen Digital / Norton) offers PII removal and online reputation management for consumers and executives. It is a direct competitor in the premium, executive-protection segment that Brightlines targets.

Broad incumbents

• Recorded Future: Recorded Future is an enterprise threat intelligence platform that monitors for leaked credentials, exposed PII, and digital risk across the surface, deep, and dark web. It sits adjacent to Brightlines' 'Prevent' step as a large, well-funded incumbent in the AI-driven threat intelligence category.
• ZeroFox: ZeroFox provides external threat protection, digital risk protection, and executive/brand security for enterprises. It overlaps with Brightlines at the executive-protection and online-threat intersection, but as part of a much broader enterprise security platform.
• Norton LifeLock: Norton LifeLock (Gen Digital) bundles identity protection, dark-web monitoring, and PII removal into a large consumer security suite. It competes indirectly by including a lower-priced PII removal feature inside a broader subscription that Brightlines' customers may already buy.

Emerging players

• Removaly: Removaly is an emerging PII removal service offering automated opt-out sweeps and continuous monitoring. It targets the same consumer and SMB privacy segment as Brightlines but with a more automated, lower-touch delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/brightlin_es

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brightlines