Make the Road New York, a prominent advocacy and community organization, needed a way to better protect its high-visibility staff from online privacy risks. With an increasingly public presence and rising threats to marginalized communities, they turned to DeleteMe to protect staff from exposure, harassment, and unwanted surveillance. The rollout became a valued employee benefit, strengthened organizational resilience, and fostered a culture of care and digital safety.
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DeleteMe Services
The Challenge
Prior to DeleteMe, Make the Road New York offered basic cybersecurity training and free resources for managing their exposed personal data, but lacked a comprehensive privacy protection solution. As staff became more visible on social media and in media outlets, concerns escalated. The overlap between personal online presence and professional identity created new risks, including harassment, spam, and identity exposure.
Employees working in communications, organizing, and leadership roles were particularly vulnerable. Staff began expressing concerns, and leadership recognized the need for a robust privacy solution as both a security measure and a show of institutional care.
Why DeleteMe?
DeleteMe was recommended by peer organizations and immediately stood out for its responsive team, transparent pricing, and flexible implementation support. According to Arlenis Morel, “We didn’t have time to negotiate endlessly. DeleteMe made it simple: here’s what it costs, here’s how we can work with your nonprofit budget, and here’s how fast we can start.”
DeleteMe’s ability to quickly scale to support different risk profiles like executives, media-facing staff, and board members, was also critical. The ease of rollout and one-page onboarding tools helped drive high adoption, even among less tech-savvy users.
Implementation
Despite a key IT stakeholder being on parental leave, DeleteMe’s team made implementation seamless. The rollout was treated like an internal campaign:
- Staff were given a clear deadline and friendly email reminders.
- DeleteMe provided email templates, timelines, and onboarding resources.
- Internal support was offered for non-English speakers and less tech-comfortable staff.
Results & ROI
- High adoption across departments, including board members.
- Positive engagement: staff were excited by removal statistics and results.
- Anecdotal wins: reduced spam calls, improved Google search results, and higher trust in organizational security posture.
- Tangible perception shift: employees viewed DeleteMe as a sign that leadership cared about their well-being beyond the workplace.
Antonia Genao shared, “People were showing off how many data points were removed. Even if they didn’t understand every number, they seemed to feel safer.”
Program Results
Through first four months enrolled in DeleteMe’s privacy platform.
- Total Website Listings Removed: 19,008
- Total Instances of PII Removed: 88,654
- Total Time Saved: 11,645 Hours / 582 days (approx)
“DeleteMe helped us show our staff that we care about their safety, not just their work product. It became a benefit, a security layer, and a retention tool.”
“We ask people to speak publicly and be online and now we support them with real protection.”
What’s Next?
Make the Road New York has incorporated DeleteMe into its onboarding and offboarding processes. New employees receive DeleteMe as part of cybersecurity training, and outgoing staff maintain access through personal accounts.
Leadership is now exploring expansion to more staff in other states and continuing to evangelize the service to other nonprofit leaders.
Looking to protect your staff in a high-risk environment?
See how DeleteMe can help your organization shield employees from online exposure and demonstrate a culture of care.
