Eliminalia

{{short description|Spanish reputation management company}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Eliminalia

| logo = Eliminalia.png

| type = Private Company

| industry = Online reputation

| founded = 2011

| founder = Diego Sánchez, known as Dídac Sánchez

| hq_location_city = Kyiv, Ukraine
Barcelona, Spain

| num_employees = 85

| num_employees_year = 2020

| website = [https://eliminalia.com/en/ eliminalia.com/en/]

}}

Eliminalia, rebranded as 'Idata Protection' in January 2023 is a Spanish company which has specialized in reputation management.{{cite news |title=Online data deletion firm says post-Brexit UK ‘should retain right to erasure’ |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/18077285.post-brexit-uk-should-retain-right-forgotten-citizens/ |access-date=29 December 2020 |work=The National |language=en |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411181718/https://www.thenational.scot/news/18077285.post-brexit-uk-should-retain-right-forgotten-citizens/ |url-status=live }} It was founded in 2011 by Diego Sánchez, known as Dídac Sánchez.{{cite news |title=Y el niño del centro de menores montó un imperio |url=https://www.elmundo.es/cronica/2015/09/06/55e9e02146163fe81b8b4595.html |work=El Mundo (Spain) |date=6 September 2015 |language=es |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411184914/https://www.elmundo.es/cronica/2015/09/06/55e9e02146163fe81b8b4595.html |url-status=live |trans-title=And the child from the youth center built an empire.}}{{cite news |last1=Iliff |first1=Laurence |title=Google Wages Free-Speech Fight in Mexico |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-wages-free-speech-fight-in-mexico-1432723483 |access-date=29 December 2020 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=27 May 2015 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108092906/https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-wages-free-speech-fight-in-mexico-1432723483 |url-status=live }} The technical offices are in Kyiv, Ukraine.{{cite news |last1=Berberi |first1=Leonard |title=Il ragazzo dal passato difficile che ti cambia la "web reputation"|trans-title=The boy with a difficult past who changes your "web reputation." |url=https://www.corriere.it/cronache/17_luglio_12/ragazzo-passato-difficile-web-reputation-5104ec40-6674-11e7-99cd-8ba21567bad4.shtml |access-date=29 December 2020 |work=Corriere della Sera |date=7 November 2017 |language=it |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109032308/https://www.corriere.it/cronache/17_luglio_12/ragazzo-passato-difficile-web-reputation-5104ec40-6674-11e7-99cd-8ba21567bad4.shtml |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Digital |first1=Confidencial |title=Entidades Bancarias usan Google para conocer pasado de clientes|trans-title=Banks use Google to learn about clients' pasts |url=https://www.elconfidencialdigital.com/articulo/comunicados/entidades-bancarias-usan-google-conocer-pasado-clientes/20201123132134188464.html |access-date=29 December 2020 |work=Confidencial Digital |date=23 November 2020 |language=es |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411181731/https://www.elconfidencialdigital.com/articulo/comunicados/entidades-bancarias-usan-google-conocer-pasado-clientes/20201123132134188464.html |url-status=live }} Eliminalia is the property of Maidan Holdings, a Miami-based holding company.{{Cite web |title=The Gravediggers: How Eliminalia, a Spanish reputation management firm, buries the truth |url=https://forbiddenstories.org/story-killers/the-gravediggers-eliminalia/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=forbiddenstories.org |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217121126/https://forbiddenstories.org/story-killers/the-gravediggers-eliminalia/ |url-status=live }}

In 2015, Eliminalia offered its services without charge to anyone affected by the Ashley Madison data breach.{{cite web |title=Eliminalia recibe 523 solicitudes de borrado de datos en 72 horas por el escándalo Ashley Madison|trans-title=Eliminalia receives 523 data deletion requests within 72 hours due to the Ashley Madison scandal. |url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcelona/20150821/54434933778/eliminalia-recibe-523-solicitudes-de-borrado-de-datos-en-72-horas-por-el-escandalo-ashley-madison.html |website=La Vanguardia |language=es |date=21 August 2015 |access-date=24 April 2021 |archive-date=24 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424232005/https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcelona/20150821/54434933778/eliminalia-recibe-523-solicitudes-de-borrado-de-datos-en-72-horas-por-el-escandalo-ashley-madison.html |url-status=live }}

In 2020, Eliminalia received several vanity awards: Technology Innovator Awards 2020{{cite web |title=Technology Innovator Awards 2020 |url=https://www.cv-magazine.com/issues/technology-innovator-awards-2020/19/ |website=www.cv-magazine.com }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} by AI Global Media and Cyber Security Company of the Year{{cite web |title=Corporate Awards |url=https://www.corporatelivewire.com/awards.html?award=140 |website=Corporate LiveWire |access-date=2020-12-29 |archive-date=2021-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422145006/https://corporatelivewire.com/awards.html?award=140 |url-status=live }} by Corporate LiveWire.

In 2021, {{interlanguage link|Qurium|es}}, an NGO dedicated to the defense of digital rights, accused Eliminalia of creating a network of fake websites with back-dated articles{{cite web |title=Dark Ops Uncovered Episode I |url=https://www.qurium.org/forensics/dark-ops-undercovered-episode-i-eliminalia/ |website=Qurium |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=4 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204150924/https://www.qurium.org/forensics/dark-ops-undercovered-episode-i-eliminalia/ |url-status=live }} and then spamming them with apparently legal DMCA takedown notices and GDPR complaints.{{cite web |title=Dark Ops Uncovered Episode II |url=https://www.qurium.org/forensics/dark-ops-undercovered-episode-ii-eliminalia-analysis-of-fake-dmca-complaints/ |website=Qurium |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029173835/https://www.qurium.org/forensics/dark-ops-undercovered-episode-ii-eliminalia-analysis-of-fake-dmca-complaints/ |url-status=live }} These were intended to take down articles referring to corruption in Angola regarding Isabel dos Santos and Vincent Miclet.

Internal documents leak

In 2023, after a news leak of approximately 50,000 internal documents to French nonprofit Forbidden Stories, the company was accused of using 'blackhat tactics' to help clients in 50 countries, including torturers, convicted criminals, corrupt politicians, scammers and spyware companies to erase their past from the internet. Eliminalia allegedly uses an array of underhanded tactics to stifle criticism of its clients, from intimidating journalists to churning out fake news on websites such as Taiwan Times, Mayday Washington, CNN News Today, and London Uncensored - all of which are connected to Maidan Holdings (Eliminalia's parent company).

Using falsified copyright infringement notices, the company manipulates "right to be forgotten" laws, designed to protect people from malicious material online, by sending emails that appear to be from the European Commission to journalists and publishers of the unwanted articles. Two clients of Eliminalia are convicted drug traffickers; other clients included Venezuela officials,{{Cite web|url=https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-02-17/mexican-ex-governors-drug-traffickers-and-venezuela-officials-hired-spanish-disinformation-firm-to-whitewash-their-online-image.html|title=Mexican ex-governors, drug traffickers and Venezuela officials hired Spanish disinformation firm to whitewash their online image|first=Joaquín Gil, José María|last=Irujo|date=February 17, 2023|website=EL PAÍS English Edition|access-date=2023-03-01|archive-date=2023-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227193100/https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-02-17/mexican-ex-governors-drug-traffickers-and-venezuela-officials-hired-spanish-disinformation-firm-to-whitewash-their-online-image.html|url-status=live}} Malchas Tetruashvili (convicted of money laundering for Georgian mafia boss Tariel Oniani in 2019),{{Cite web |last=Sur |first=Europa |date=2020-04-15 |title=La mafia georgiana empleó una empresa de Gibraltar para operaciones de blanqueo|trans-title=The Georgian mafia used a company from Gibraltar for money laundering operations |url=https://www.europasur.es/gibraltar/mafia-georgiana-blanqueo-empresa-Gibraltar-audiencia-nacional_0_1455454946.html |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=Europa Sur |language=es-ES |archive-date=2023-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217133212/https://www.europasur.es/gibraltar/mafia-georgiana-blanqueo-empresa-Gibraltar-audiencia-nacional_0_1455454946.html |url-status=live }} José Mestré (convicted of cocaine trafficking in 2010),{{Cite news |date=2014-07-17 |title=Tycoon turned drug lord sells €30m mansion |language=en-US |work=The Local Spain |url=https://www.thelocal.es/20140717/business-star-turned-drug-lord-sells-30m-mansion/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |archive-date=2023-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217133211/https://www.thelocal.es/20140717/business-star-turned-drug-lord-sells-30m-mansion/ |url-status=live }} former bank officials at Banca Privada d'Andorra, as well as 'scammers, spyware companies, torturers, convicted criminals, corrupt politicians and others in the global underworld'. One has been charged with laundering money for a prostitution ring. Another sold U.S. equipment to the Syrian government. Three more are indicted for helping carry out a cryptocurrency scam that stole billions of dollars from investors.{{Cite web|url=https://www.occrp.org/en/storykillers/eliminalia-a-reputation-laundromat-for-criminals|title=Eliminalia: A Reputation Laundromat for Criminals|first=OCCRP and|last=IRPI|website=OCCRP|access-date=2023-03-01|archive-date=2023-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228154317/https://www.occrp.org/en/storykillers/eliminalia-a-reputation-laundromat-for-criminals|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/17/spanish-firm-erase-past-internet-eliminalia-web|title=The Spanish firm that uses dubious methods to ‘erase your past’ from the internet|first=David|last=Pegg|date=February 17, 2023|via=The Guardian|access-date=March 1, 2023|archive-date=February 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228194227/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/17/spanish-firm-erase-past-internet-eliminalia-web|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Boburg |first=Shawn |title=Leaked files reveal reputation-management firm’s deceptive tactics |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/eliminalia-fake-news-misinformation/ |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Washington Post |language=en |archive-date=2023-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227042405/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/eliminalia-fake-news-misinformation/ |url-status=live }}

As of January 2023, it appears that Eliminalia has rebranded as 'Idata Protection'.

References