California’s Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) is a free, centralized state-run tool managed by the California Privacy Protection Agency. It allows California residents to submit a single data deletion and opt-out request that reaches over 600 registered data brokers simultaneously, cutting out the need to contact individual companies.

The service is funded by registration fees paid by data brokers, not directly by taxpayers. Data Brokering at latest count is a $300, $400 billion industry.

“These are massive dossiers on each and every one of us,” said Tom Kemp, executive director of the California Privacy Protection Agency, also known as CalPrivacy, adding,“The DROP system for the first time allows Californians to take control of their information and reduce their digital footprint.”

More than 425,000 Californians have registered for DROP, and data brokers began processing deletion requests in early August.

“Right now, as we speak, about 15,000 to 20,000 Californians are signing up a day now that the data brokers are beginning the processing,” said Kemp.

DROP can’t remove data on the dark web, and some public records can remain online. The free program is only for California residents, but several other states are considering something similar.

To sign up, go to the official website at privacy.ca.gov.

ACROSS THE UNITED STATES

Connecticut, Minnesota, and Vermont are considering bills to implement their own centralized “delete-style” frameworks modeled directly after California’s newly launched Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform.

While some states prefer the one-click universal deletion mechanism of DROP, others are testing different strategies to regulate the data broker market.

States like Maryland and Washington have previously introduced bills aimed at forcing data brokers to register primarily to impose an industry tax, rather than a consumer-facing deletion portal.

Massachusetts and Virginia have focused efforts on narrower consumer protections, such as bills explicitly banning the sale of precise geolocation data.