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California built a free tool to delete your data from 500+ data brokers at once [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2026-01-08  

California's Privacy Protection Agency has launched DROP — the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform — a free tool that lets residents submit deletion requests to more than 500 registered data brokers in a single submission. According to the California Privacy Protection Agency, the service went live on January 1, with data brokers required to delete your information within 90 days and continue deleting it every 45 days going forward.

The process is straightforward: verify California residency through the state's identity gateway, create a profile with as much or as little personal information as you choose, and submit. That's it. One form, 500+ brokers, no charge.

Data brokers collect and sell everything from social security numbers to search history to information about your children. Removing yourself from their databases has traditionally required hunting down individual opt-out pages — pages that brokers have been caught deliberately hiding from search engines. California's new tool bypasses all of that.

The agency notes that using DROP may reduce spam calls, scam attempts, and identity theft risk. Let's hope the state actually enforces the new regulation.

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