According to The Verge, Google is shutting down its dark web report feature for all users. The service, which scanned data breaches for personal information like contact details and home addresses, will stop monitoring for new results on January 15, 2026. All data it has collected will be permanently deleted and become unavailable to users starting February 16, 2026. Google notified users via email, stating that feedback showed the reports “did not provide helpful next steps.” The feature was initially a perk for Google One subscribers in 2023 before expanding to all Google account users in 2024. Google suggests users now rely on its “results about you” page and Security Checkup instead.
Why this feature failed
Here’s the thing: Google‘s reasoning actually makes a weird kind of sense. Telling someone their home address is floating around on some sketchy forum is, frankly, terrifying. But then what? For the average person, what’s the actionable step? You can’t change your home address. You can’t un-list your phone number from every database. The report basically just handed users an anxiety-inducing fact with zero roadmap for a fix. That’s a terrible user experience. It created panic without providing a solution, which is probably why the feedback was so negative. They’re basically admitting they built a tool that highlighted problems it couldn’t help solve.
What users should do now
So, if you were relying on this, what’s your move? Google’s own recommendations—Security Checkup and the “results about you” page—are fine for Google-centric hygiene. But let’s be real: the gold standard for this kind of breach monitoring is still Have I Been Pwned. It’s been doing this for years, it’s respected, and it often provides clearer context. The shutdown is a good reminder that you shouldn’t depend on a single free tool from a mega-corporation for your core digital security. It can vanish at any time.
The bigger Google pattern
Now, look at the timeline. This feature went wide to all users in early 2024 and is being killed not even two years later. That’s incredibly fast. It fits a now-familiar pattern: Google launches a feature with some fanfare, integrates it loosely, and then axes it when engagement isn’t stellar or it becomes a support burden. Remember Google Podcasts? Or the countless messaging apps? It makes you wonder about the internal cost-benefit analysis for these services. If it’s not driving subscription revenue for Google One or directly locking users into the core search/Gmail ecosystem, its lifespan may be limited. For a company that wants to be your everything, it’s a strange way to build trust.
