How to protect your online data from sellers

Californians can now visit a single state website to request that brokers delete their personal information and refrain from passing it on

- KAREN GARCIA

Starting this year, a single request form will allow Californians to demand that data brokers delete their personal information and refrain from collecting or selling it in the future.

Third parties are constantly lurking as you navigate the internet, collecting data they can later aggregate and sell, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center. These data brokers can gather your email addresses and Social Security number, as well as details about your income, political preferences and martial status — often without your knowledge — and offer that information to everyone from advertisers to landlords to debt collectors.

You have the right to request a broker delete your information from their databases, but it’s an often-arduous task that entails identifying specific brokers who have your info, then reaching out to them individually with removal requests.

Now, that’s no longer the case — at least in California.

Californians can instead fill out one form on the state’s online Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, also known as DROP, to request that all registered data brokers scrub their personal information.

What is DROP?

In 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed state Senate Bill 362, also known as the Delete Act, which directed the California Privacy Protection Agency to create a first-of-its-kind single website on which residents could order all registered data brokers in the state to delete their personal information.