It’s like a secret auction. People’s most sensitive information is being bought and sold by data brokers whose names many of us haven’t even heard.
But a new California law effective right now called DROP allows residents to have agency over entities knowing about data such as location, finances and consumer preferences. In one step Californians can direct over 500 brokers to delete and not sell personal information.
The process takes about 15 minutes and is available here through a website set up by the state of California, which will pass along the request to all brokers operating in the state. It requires verifying California residency and providing information that the state says will be protected. Beginning in August, data brokers will have to delete your data within 90 days.
Why is this a big deal? A 2024 report released by Consumer Watchdog revealed the extent of the data being trafficked and the ineffectiveness of the existing legal framework. We found that brokers share data with law enforcement, insurance and financial service companies, but less than 1 percent of Californians were exercising their data broker opt out rights. At the time it wasn’t a seamless process, and required people to individually make such requests in order to take control of their personal information.
I requested my personal data from the largest brokers: Experian, Acxiom, and LiveRamp, and the results were alarming. These data brokers kept incredibly detailed profiles spanning hundreds of pages, with inferences about my finances, family, eating and exercise habits, down to how likely I am to get a vaccine or subscribe to a streaming service. A lot of it was also wrong.
LiveRamp, for example, said it sends data to Amazon, Disney, Fox, Comcast, Google, Uber and Warner Bros. Experian said it sources geolocation data from apps on your phone, and discloses it to “law enforcement,” “financial services,” “insurance companies” and “regulatory authorities,” among others.
It’s a bummer, but these are the steps you can take to fight back.
