California Privacy Protection Agency

California offers a new tool called DROP for residents to request data brokers delete their information and stop tracking them. CalMatters and The Markup are seeking public participation to test compliance with the program.

California residents can now use a new tool called DROP to request data brokers delete their personal information and stop tracking them. Journalists from CalMatters and The Markup are seeking public help to test if brokers comply with these requests.

The California Privacy Protection Agency has launched a free technology called CalPrivacy DROP, allowing Californians to delete their personal information from data brokers. This technology is part of a statewide roadshow, which was promoted at San Diego State University. The goal is to help residents protect their privacy.

U.S. states issued $3.45 billion in privacy-related fines to companies in 2025, driven by stronger state laws, interstate enforcement partnerships, and focus on AI's privacy impacts. California's Privacy Protection Agency enforced the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) across diverse industries, signaling a shift from dormant enforcement to aggressive penalties.

A survey by webXray found that major tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are violating California privacy law by ignoring the Global Privacy Control signal, which prohibits tracking users who opt out. The report suggests widespread noncompliance, with Google tracking users in 86% of cases and Meta failing to check the signal 69% of the time, potentially leading to billions in fines.

California's new DROP tool allows residents to block data brokers from tracking or selling their personal information. The system, mandated by the 2023 Delete Act, enables users to submit requests to all registered brokers at once, simplifying a process previously requiring individual opt-outs for each broker.