California Launches New Tool to Help Residents Delete Personal Data

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) - The California Privacy Protection Agency has launched a free website called the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform, or DROP, that allows residents to request the deletion of their personal information from hundreds of data brokers.

Data brokers are companies most people never deal with directly. They collect information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, locations, and browsing activity, then sell that data to other businesses.

Through DROP, Californians can submit a single request asking registered data brokers to delete their information, rather than contacting each company one by one. According to the agency, more than 175,000 people signed up in the first three weeks after the site launched.

To use the website, residents must confirm they live in California and enter basic information like their name, email address, phone number, and date of birth. The process takes just a few minutes.

The program was created under the California Delete Act, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2023. The law directed the California Privacy Protection Agency to build the system and requires data brokers to comply with deletion requests.