Google Is Killing Its Dark Web Report — Here’s How Else to Know If Your Data Has Been Leaked
"We received feedback that this particular dark web report was confusing and not actionable in any way by users," Google said.
"What will Google kill next?" has become a running joke over the years, driven by the company's habit of shutting down products it deems unsuccessful, such as Google Reader, Inbox, Stadia. Now, Google has continued this pattern by axing another product: Google Dark Web Report.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
Google's Dark Web Report was first introduced in mid-2024, with the idea that it would serve as a scanner for users’ data breaches, including emails, phone numbers, passwords, and other important information on shady sites.
With Google now pulling the plug, the feature will officially be canned on February 16, 2026. The company made the announcement in an email to users on Monday.
“We’re making this change to instead focus on tools that give you more clear, actionable steps to protect your information online. We will continue to track and defend you from online threats, including the dark web, and build tools that help protect you and your personal information,” the email said.
Although the scanning feature would stop a month earlier on January 15, 2026, all related data would remain on Google's servers till February.
Why did Google shut down the Dark Web Report?
Google stated on its official support page that the feature "didn't provide helpful next steps" for users after the report. This sentiment was also echoed by critics on Reddit who have called the report “useless.” The feature also didn't specifically state which services were affected, leaving a lot of users confused and often frustrated.
“We provide billions of users with many actionable security notices and reports such as phishing warnings, password checkups and malicious account activity reports that they can address directly, all of which are important security protections,” a statement from Google said.
“But we received feedback that this particular dark web report was confusing and not actionable in any way by users, so we’re stopping it to focus on providing actionable reports and warnings. We’ll continue to be a leader in tracking and defending against online threats, including on the dark web.”
Other Ways to Check If Your Data Has Been Leaked
However, Google says it has other tools that would be effective in addressing data breach issues, such as Security Checkup, which reviews account settings, Password Manager and Password Checkup, which flags compromised credentials and helps generate new ones, and Passkeys that remove passwords altogether. Google says that these tools better align with providing helpful steps with specific fixes rather than just a vague report.
Other free alternatives outside the Google ecosystem include Have I Been Pwned, Firefox Monitor, and Experian Free Scan.
For users, this would kill off a feature that brings a layer of visibility to potential data leaks, but it doesn’t leave a security vacuum. If anything, Google is betting that fewer alerts paired with more decisive actions will do more good than constant warnings with no roadmap.
This move by Google shows that monitoring data breaches isn't enough without clear, actionable steps and visibility into which services are affected. And tools are judged by how helpful they are and not just by what they do. And if Google’s history is any guide, features that fail that test rarely stick around for long.
Emmanuel Umahi
