California's Free Tool to Delete Your Data From Brokers

California now lets its residents ask hundreds of data brokers to delete their details with a single request. The state’s privacy agency runs the website, officially called DROP, and it costs nothing. The agency’s page puts it plainly: “we will never charge you” [1].

If you live in California, you can use it today. If you live somewhere else, the tool will not help you, but the rest of this note still explains what is going on and where to look next.

Who data brokers are and why they have your details

A data broker is a company that collects and sells personal information about people it has no direct relationship with [3]. You never signed up with these companies. You never bought anything from them, and most people have never heard their names. Even so, their files can hold your home address, your phone number and a picture of your shopping habits.

That is the part that bothers most people. Nobody asked you whether this was fine. The details were gathered and passed along without you ever saying yes, and until now getting them removed meant contacting brokers one at a time, if you could even find out who they were.

How California’s free tool works

The tool opened for sign-ups on 1 January 2026. Since 1 August 2026, the real work has started: brokers must check the tool at least every 45 days and begin processing the deletion requests they find there [2].

Using it takes a few steps, as the agency describes them [1]:

1. You confirm that you are a California resident. The tool is only open to people who live in the state.
2. You verify your identity through a state digital identity service. The agency’s page says your information is not retained by DROP.
3. You choose which details to provide. Brokers use these details to match you to the records they hold.
4. You submit one deletion request. It goes to every data broker registered in California, which is over 600 companies.

After that, the waiting begins. Brokers check the list at least every 45 days. The agency says it can take up to 90 days for your status to update. By November 2026, all registered brokers should have completed their first round of requests [1].

Brokers have a strong reason not to ignore you. A broker that fails to process a request faces a fine of $200 per day for each person whose request it skips [3]. The fine counts per person and per day, so it grows fast.

What it does not cover, and what to expect

The tool is helpful, but it does not wipe you off the internet. A California law sets its limits, and a few kinds of data stay where they are [3].

Publicly available information is not covered. Neither is data that a company collected because you deal with it directly, such as a store where you have an account or a service you pay for. Brokers can also claim exemptions that already exist in the law, so some records may stay even after your request goes through.

Be patient and keep your expectations realistic. The agency says results vary from person to person and may take time to notice [1]. Some brokers may remove a lot, some may remove little, and the exemptions above mean the deletion is not guaranteed to be complete. Checking your status after the 90-day window is a sensible first step.

If you do not live in California

This tool does not cover you. Only California residents can use it, and there is no version for people in other states or countries.

You still have options. Paid data removal services do a similar job for a fee, working on your behalf. Our data removal reviews explain how each service we review works, what it asks you to hand over and what it costs.

The same reviews help Californians too. The free state tool reaches only brokers registered in California, so if you want to go further than the state tool, the reviews show what each service does and which countries it covers.