Removing your personal information from data brokers used to mean finding companies one at a time, filling out separate forms, and keeping track of every request. California has compressed much of that work into a single state portal.
The Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, called DROP, opened for requests in January. The important change arrived August 1: registered data brokers must now retrieve and process those requests. The state says one submission goes to more than 600 registered brokers.
That could change an ordinary privacy chore. Data brokers collect and sell details such as names, addresses, phone numbers, online activity, and inferences about people. A successful match can reduce how widely that information circulates. California says this may mean fewer unwanted calls, texts, and emails, along with less exposure to fraud or impersonation.
The result will take time. Brokers must check the system at least every 45 days, and the state says deletion can take up to 90 days. Legal exemptions apply. A broker also needs enough information to match the request to its records, so DROP cannot promise that every trace will disappear.
Choose what helps the match
The portal lets you decide which identifiers to provide. Options can include previous names, email addresses, phone numbers, date of birth, ZIP codes, advertising IDs, and a vehicle identification number. More accurate details may improve the match. Those details are disclosed to registered brokers for the purpose of processing the request, so it is worth choosing them deliberately.
If you live in California and want to use DROP, begin at privacy.ca.gov/drop rather than a search ad or look-alike service. Verify your residency, review the identifiers you are comfortable providing, and save the DROP ID after submission. That ID lets you return to check the request’s status.
For everyone else, California’s experiment raises a useful question: how much work should a privacy right require from the person trying to use it?