If you’ve ever wondered how your kid’s summer camp sign-up somehow led to a flood of targeted ads, or how a data breach at one company seems to follow you everywhere online, you’re not imagining things. Data brokers — companies that collect and resell personal information, often without you ever knowing — have been operating with very little friction in California for years. That’s changing on August 1.
What is DROP?
DROP stands for the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform, a free tool built by the California Privacy Protection Agency. It lets any California resident submit a single request that reaches every data broker registered in the state — more than 500 of them — asking them to delete personal information and stop selling or sharing it.
Before DROP, doing this meant contacting each data broker individually, one by one, often through buried or hard-to-find forms. Now it’s one request, one form, one time.
Why this matters for Monterey County families
Data brokers don’t just track credit card purchases. They compile profiles built from public records, social media, apps, loyalty programs, and more — sometimes including details about kids and teens. That information gets sold to marketers, and in the worst cases, to scammers and people running phishing schemes. For parents managing a household full of devices, school apps, and online accounts, DROP is a rare chance to claw back some control.
A few things worth knowing:
- DROP has technically been open since January 1, 2026, but data brokers weren’t required to act on requests yet.
- Starting August 1, 2026, that changes. Registered data brokers must check DROP at least every 45 days, and must delete matched personal information — including data compiled through inference — within 90 days of a request.
- Filing early means you’re “in line” for that first 45-day cycle rather than waiting behind everyone who signs up later.
- Parents can also submit a request on behalf of a minor child, or an elderly relative, through the same platform.
- It’s free, and your DROP submission itself is not sold or shared.
What it won’t do
DROP isn’t a magic privacy shield. It doesn’t cover information required to be public by law, and it doesn’t reach companies that aren’t registered as data brokers with the state (think: the businesses you deal with directly, like your bank or your child’s school). It also won’t stop new data from being collected going forward — it’s a deletion and opt-out request, not a permanent block.
How to sign up
Verification takes just a few minutes and confirms you’re a California resident. From there, you fill out a short profile with as much or as little information as you’re comfortable sharing, and DROP sends your request out to every registered broker at once.
👉 Submit your request here: privacy.ca.gov/drop
It’s one of those rare pieces of state bureaucracy that’s actually simple to use — worth five minutes of your time before the school year ramps back up.
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