If you live in California, the state’s Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) is the most complete official shortcut currently available: one free request can reach more than 600 registered data brokers. You verify residency, create a profile, choose the identifiers brokers can use to find you, submit the request, and track results with an eight-digit ID.
DROP does not erase every copy of your information from the internet. It covers registered brokers and non-exempt information. Data you gave directly to a company, legally exempt records, and publicly available information can remain. Residents of other states should use their own state’s official privacy-rights resources rather than assuming California’s process applies.
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What California’s DROP service actually removes
California’s Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) is a state-run service created under the California Delete Act, Senate Bill 362. It gives an eligible California resident a single place to request deletion of non-exempt personal information held by registered data brokers. The DROP overview currently lists more than 600 registered brokers; that number can change as registrations and enforcement activity change.
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The service is free for California residents. Instead of visiting every registered broker separately, you submit one request through the state platform. Each broker must retrieve requests from DROP at least once every 45 days, compare the request with its records, and act on any match. Brokers must also pass applicable requests to their service providers and contractors and keep suppression records so that information is not immediately re-added after deletion.
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta described the purpose this way: “Data brokers store and sell so much information about our daily lives — who you are, how you live, and where you go — but in California there is now an easy-to-use tool to take back control over your data.” The practical result is narrower than “erase yourself from the internet”: DROP addresses registered data-broker holdings, not every organization or public page that mentions you.
Who can use DROP and when it works
California residency is required
The official process begins by confirming that you are a California resident through the California Identity Gateway. California’s DROP mechanism is the only process covered here. It does not establish an equivalent nationwide service or confirm the eligibility rules of another state.
Key dates and waiting periods
- DROP launched on January 1, 2026, and Californians could submit requests from launch.
- Registered brokers began processing DROP requests on August 1, 2026.
- Each broker must access DROP at least every 45 days.
- A consumer may wait as long as 90 days for status reporting, because brokers process on their access cycle and the state must receive their updates.
These are program rules, not a promise that every broker will report on the same day. A request can remain pending while a broker has not yet processed it.
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DROP lets you decide which identifiers to provide. Preparation improves the chance that a broker can match its record without forcing you to disclose information you do not want to submit.
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Gather the identifiers that may appear in broker records
The profile can include:
- Your current and former names, where relevant.
- Date of birth.
- ZIP code.
- Email addresses.
- Telephone numbers, including mobile numbers.
- Mobile advertising IDs.
- Connected-television IDs.
- Vehicle identification numbers (VINs).
You choose what to enter. A broker may have an old email address, previous phone number, alternate spelling, or a device or vehicle identifier rather than the details you use today. Supplying accurate identifiers that legitimately belong to you can increase the likelihood of a match. Do not add someone else’s information or guess at an identifier.
Decide what you are comfortable sharing with the state platform
More matching data can help locate a record, but it also means the platform receives more personal information for the request. Use the minimum set that gives brokers a realistic way to identify you, and review every field before submission. If your name, phone number, email address, device identifier, or vehicle information changes later, DROP allows you to update the profile so future processing uses current details.
Use a private place to store your tracking number
After review and submission, DROP provides an eight-digit request ID for checking status. Keep that ID private. Treat it like a case number: store it in a password manager or another secure location rather than posting it publicly or forwarding it casually.
How to submit a DROP request
- Open the official DROP service and start eligibility verification. Follow the California Identity Gateway flow and confirm that you meet the California-residency requirement. If the gateway cannot verify eligibility, resolve that issue through the state’s instructions instead of creating a duplicate request.
- Create your DROP profile. Enter the requested identity and contact details. Include accurate current or former identifiers that data brokers may have used, such as names, ZIP code, email addresses, phone numbers, mobile advertising IDs, connected-TV IDs, or a VIN.
- Review the identifiers you selected. Check spelling, number accuracy, and whether each item is yours. Add useful historical identifiers when you are comfortable doing so; a profile containing only a new phone number may miss a broker record built from an older one.
- Submit the single request. Read the confirmation carefully. The request is directed to participating registered brokers through DROP; it is not a request to every website or company on the internet.
- Save the eight-digit ID. Use it to return to the platform and check the broker-by-broker status. Do not publish or share the ID unnecessarily.
- Allow the processing window. Brokers began processing on August 1, 2026 and must check for requests at least every 45 days. Status information can take up to 90 days to appear. Checking immediately after submission will not show a final outcome for every broker.
How to read every possible status
DROP’s status labels describe different outcomes. They are not interchangeable, and a request can have a different status with each broker.
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| Status | What it means | What remains possible |
|---|---|---|
| Deleted | The broker matched the data you submitted and deleted non-exempt personal information. | Information covered by a legal exemption, or information held outside the broker’s covered records, may still exist. |
| Opted-out | The broker could not make an exact match to your submitted data. | The broker still has the data, but it cannot sell or share that record under the opt-out result. |
| Exempted | The broker may keep all matched information under a legal exemption. | The exemption can prevent deletion even though the broker found a matching record. |
| Record not found | The broker did not have, or could not locate, a matching record. | There is no matched record for that request at that broker; this is not proof that no information exists anywhere else. |
| Pending | The broker has not processed the request yet. | Wait for the broker’s next DROP access and the state’s status update, within the program’s stated timing. |
An “opted-out” result is especially easy to misunderstand. It does not mean deletion. It means the broker could not verify an exact match but is barred from selling or sharing the data covered by that result. Likewise, “record not found” is not a guarantee that another spelling, older identifier, affiliate, or separate broker does not hold information about you.
What DROP does not remove
Information you gave directly to a company
DROP targets data brokers. It does not erase first-party data that you supplied directly to a business, such as an account profile, purchase history, customer-support record, or information held to provide a service. To address those records, you must use the company’s own privacy or account-deletion process, subject to that company’s legal obligations.
Exempt information
A broker can retain matched information when a legal exemption applies. The platform’s “Exempted” status signals that the broker may keep all of the matched information under that exemption. Do not interpret a submission as overriding a statutory retention requirement or another exception.
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Public records and other publicly available information are outside the deletion promise described for DROP. A successful request therefore does not remove a property record, court filing, government page, news story, social-media post, or another public source merely because a broker may have copied or indexed it.
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Every copy on the open internet
DROP is not a universal internet-erasure service. It does not guarantee less spam, fewer scams, protection from identity theft, or the disappearance of every search result. Those outcomes depend on sources and organizations beyond the registered brokers covered by the platform.
Why a broker may not delete your record
- No exact match: The identifiers submitted do not line up closely enough with the broker’s record, producing “Opted-out” or “Record not found.”
- An exemption applies: A matched record can be retained as “Exempted.”
- The broker has not checked yet: “Pending” can persist until the next access cycle.
- The information is outside DROP’s scope: First-party records, publicly available data, and records held by an unregistered or otherwise uncovered entity are not transformed into deletions by a DROP submission.
If you receive an unexpected result, first check whether the profile contains an old name, email address, phone number, device identifier, or VIN that the broker could actually recognize. DROP allows profile updates when those details change. Updating the profile is different from repeatedly submitting random variations: use accurate information and keep your tracking ID for the resulting status history.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happens after deletion
California broker guidance requires brokers to compare DROP deletion lists with their records, delete matched non-exempt personal information, and pass applicable requests to service providers and contractors. Brokers also retain suppression-list information so they can continue honoring the request instead of recreating the profile on the next data refresh. That suppression record is a compliance mechanism; it is not the same as retaining the deleted personal-information profile for sale.
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Should you pay for a data-removal service?
California residents should start with the free official DROP route. A commercial service could be useful only for tasks that the state platform does not perform, such as handling individual non-California opt-outs or offering monitoring, but the value depends on its current terms. No particular paid provider, price, performance rate, or affiliate offer is established here.
Before giving any service your information or payment details, compare it against the following questions:
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which residents and jurisdictions are covered? | A service may not support your state or may treat California rights differently from other rights. |
| How many brokers and sites are included? | “Data broker removal” can mean a limited list of sites rather than every registered broker. |
| Are requests sent once or repeatedly? | One-time submissions and recurring monitoring solve different problems. |
| How are results reported? | Look for broker-level statuses, timing, and a way to see pending, deleted, opted-out, exempted, and not-found outcomes. |
| What records are excluded? | First-party data, public information, legal exemptions, and unregistered entities may remain regardless of the service. |
| What information must you provide? | Understand whether the service asks for names, dates of birth, contact details, device IDs, VINs, or other sensitive identifiers. |
| How is your information protected? | Read retention, sharing, security, breach-notification, and deletion terms before submitting a profile. |
| What is the full price? | Check recurring charges, renewal dates, cancellation steps, refunds, and whether a promotional price expires. |
A paid service cannot lawfully turn exempt or publicly available information into a guaranteed deletion, and it should not be presented as a replacement for understanding the official result returned by each broker.
If you live outside California
The material established for this guide covers California’s DROP mechanism only. Other states may have different definitions, deadlines, eligibility rules, and request methods. Start with your state attorney general, privacy regulator, or official consumer-privacy portal. Confirm whether your state recognizes a deletion right, an opt-out of sale or sharing, or a centralized request form before sending sensitive identifiers.
Do not assume that a California residency check, the 45-day broker access cycle, the 90-day status window, or the DROP status labels apply where you live. Those details belong to California’s program unless your own state’s official guidance says otherwise.
Practical checklist
- Confirm that you are eligible as a California resident.
- Collect accurate current and historical names, email addresses, phone numbers, ZIP code, and any relevant device or vehicle identifiers.
- Choose only the identifiers you are comfortable submitting, while providing enough accurate detail for matching.
- Review the profile for spelling and number errors before sending it.
- Save the eight-digit request ID privately.
- Allow up to 90 days for complete status reporting.
- Read each status literally: deleted is not the same as opted-out, exempted, record not found, or pending.
- Update the profile when your name, phone, email, device identifier, or vehicle information changes.
- Handle first-party accounts and public pages through their own processes; DROP does not cover them.
- If you are outside California, consult your own state’s official privacy-rights guidance.
Bottom line
For an eligible California resident, DROP is the clearest starting point: one free request reaches more than 600 registered data brokers, with broker-specific statuses available through an eight-digit tracking ID. Use accurate identifiers, expect processing to take weeks rather than minutes, and treat the result as a targeted broker deletion or sales-and-sharing opt-out—not a promise that every organization, public record, or web page will forget you.
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