California this year launched an online site to put teeth into the 2023 California Delete Act. It could be the most powerful privacy tool consumers have ever had. It could also create havoc for the data broker and social media industries.
On January 1, the California Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) is an online tool allowing residents to remove and opt out of data collection. On the site, consumers enter personal identifiers, including phone numbers and email addresses currently in use. After submit the request, data brokers must process the deletion request within 45 days. The starting date, August 1, 2026, gives brokers the time to establish internal processes. People requesting the deletions can check their DROP status after that date to see if your data was deleted. They can add more information about themselves at any time. New data can take up to 90 days to process.
California’s Delete Act was a step forward, but lacked the mechanism to allow consumers to easily get their data removed. Instead of a single place, they contacted every company they knew carried their data and submitted a letter requesting deletion. But they had to know where that data was to issue a request, and they would never know if it had ever been deleted. The state also now offers a website allowing residents to know how many data brokers are collecting data.
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