Californians begin using ‘DROP’ tool, asking data brokers to delete their personal data

On Jan. 1, the California Privacy Protection Agency launched a new digital tool allowing Californians to request that registered data brokers delete their personal information, and so far, more than 155,000 residents have used the tool.

The Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, or DROP, which Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Privacy Protection Agency announced in December, allows residents to send a single request to the more than 500 data brokers that are registered with the state to delete any personal information they hold. The tool’s creation was mandated as part of the 2023 Delete Act, a novel data privacy law that required data brokers to fulfill the requests of residents to delete their data, and required brokers to disclose the types of personal information they collect.

Brokers must start processing deletion requests Aug. 1.

Data brokers, the state said in a press release, “quietly work to collect, combine, analyze, trade, and sell personal information, usually without a person’s knowledge or explicit consent, creating risks for fraud and other nefarious outcomes.”

“DROP is a game changer for consumer privacy,” Tom Kemp, executive director of the California Privacy Protection Agency, said in the release. “It’s the first platform of its kind and it makes exercising privacy rights simple, free, and accessible for millions of Californians. It gives people a straightforward way to take control of their personal information.”

The state said DROP, which was developed by CalPrivacy and the California Department of Technology, is the “first government-built platform of its kind in the world,” and it reflects “Newsom’s broader commitment to protecting consumer rights and leveraging technology to serve the public interest.”

“Privacy only works if people can trust the technology behind it,” Liana Bailey-Crimmins, California’s chief information officer, said in the release. “Our promise was to deliver an easy-to-use and secure platform for all Californians to decide whether or not data brokers can use or sell their personal information — and that’s exactly what DROP does.”