About this video
Software subscriptions are a tax on your lack of curiosity. In this video, I demonstrate how the 'Death of SaaS' is a reality by building a personal version of Incogni—a data broker removal tool—using Claude Code and AI. Stop paying monthly fees for simple automation and start taking control of your digital footprint. Key Takeaways: - AI democratises software development, allowing non-experts to build complex automation tools. - You can leverage UK GDPR laws to force data brokers to delete your personal information for free. - Automating form submissions with Playwright bypasses the need for manual data entry. - Local-first software is more private, more secure, and significantly cheaper than traditional SaaS models. - Building your own tools allows for total customisation without the 'subscription creep'.
The Software Revolution: Why Your Subscriptions Are Now Obsolete
The traditional SaaS model is dying; and your AI is the executioner. For years, we have been told that building functional software requires a team of developers, a massive budget, and months of labour. That era is over. Today, we are seeing the democratisation of development through AI tools like Claude Code, allowing anyone to build bespoke solutions for problems that used to require a monthly subscription.
The Problem With Data Brokers
Data brokers are the digital equivalent of stalkers; they collect, categorise, and sell your personal information without your explicit consent. Companies like Incogni have built successful businesses by charging users a monthly fee to send opt-out requests to these brokers. Whilst their service is valuable, it is fundamentally a set of automated emails and form submissions. Why pay a recurring fee for something you can run yourself for free?
Building the Personal Incogni
Using Claude Code, I set out to build a personal data broker removal tool. The process was surprisingly straightforward:
- Leveraging Open Data: We utilised the 'Big Ass Data Broker Opt-Out List' to identify over 960 brokers.
- Automating Legal Requests: We drafted templates based on UK GDPR laws to ensure the requests were legally binding.
- Integrating Communication: We hooked the system up to a standard Gmail account using SMTP to handle the outgoing requests.
- Handling Complexity: For brokers that do not use email, we utilised Playwright to automate web form submissions.
Why 'Local-First' Wins
The beauty of this approach is that the software does not need to be mass-market secure or multi-tenant. It runs on your local machine, handles your data privately, and costs nothing to maintain. This is the true meaning of the death of SaaS. When you can build your own tools tailored exactly to your needs, the need for generic, overpriced subscriptions vanishes.
Take Control
You do not need to be a coding expert to take back your privacy. If you have a problem, prompt it. Discuss the logic with an AI, map out the requirements, and let the technology bridge the gap. It is time to stop being a passive consumer of software and start being a creator.
Transcript▾
How much more evidence do you need that SaaS has been completely democratised? We are going to prove that today by building something that I have seen online, people advertising quite a lot, and that is these data broker systems; companies that claim to remove data from data brokers, things like Incogni. I am going to set myself a challenge to actually build my own data broker removal tool. This is the point: I don't even know what we're going to be building. And that is where AI and Claude Code can actually help me do that. So follow me on this journey to build my own tool in order to remove my data from these data brokerage websites. And hopefully in turn you will learn that if you have a problem, if you have a challenge, just prompt it, AI it, figure it out for yourself, you don't need to know the details. So let us just stop waffling on and crack on with it.
First thing I am going to do is head into my sites folder and I am going to create a new folder called incogni. I am just creating a new directory here and let us jump into that and start up Claude Code. I have seen these data brokerage removal tools, things like Incogni, where they claim to remove data through forms. I don't know the details of how to build this, but I would like to build my own personal version. Claude, help me do that. I am going into Opus and plan mode with high effort.
Here is what we found: these services act as your authorised agent and send legal requests to data brokers citing privacy laws like UK GDPR. Requests go out by email or web form. Brokers must respond within a month under UK rules. There is a rich open data set available; the 'Big Ass Data Broker Opt-Out List' exists. A personal tool skips all the SaaS billing and multi-tenant complexity.
From my understanding, we are leveraging UK data laws. We scan the databases every few months and send letters to take our data off there. That sounds straightforward. We'll use email and forms for submissions. It will store data locally because it is sensitive. I want the app to draft requests so I can approve a batch before sending; that is the safest path.
Claude has provided a safe path. I need to supply credentials in an ENV file. I will set the SMTP host for my Gmail and use an app password. I also want to request multiple emails to be removed. Claude says this is possible as I am the same data subject. After setting up the connection, we can run the dev environment.
In the app, we can see the drafts. We have the data protection request ready, citing UK GDPR. It has picked up my multiple addresses. All that stands between me and sending is setting the environment variable to 'false'. Once I did that, it sent. We have a working tool.
The app uses 960 preloaded brokers from an open-source directory. For brokers that use forms instead of email, we use Playwright scripts. I have added the ability to override settings and handle manual processes. I built a system where we can run worker forms to automate the submissions. Form submitted; it works.
I am not an expert in data brokerage, but with the power of AI, we can build these tools exactly how we want them. The death of SaaS means you can build your own tools that don't need to be mass-market secure or public. They just need to work for you. If you have an idea, discuss it with your AI. Link to the project is below. Thank you for supporting the channel.