To give people visibility into who sells their personal data for profit, four years ago California started requiring data brokers to register once a year. Since then, a new registry has come out each year based on those submissions.
California voters passed a ballot measure in 2020 that gives consumers the right to access information collected about them, delete or modify that information, or tell a broker they cannot sell or share that information. Consumers can initiate the process by sending an email to a point of contact. Then they have to present a copy of their ID like a driver’s license to prove who they are.
But relatively soon — at the speed state governments operate — consumers should be able to delete data collected about them. The law also shifts responsibility for maintaining the registry from the Department of Justice to the California Privacy Protection Agency. That means that power to determine which companies fail to register and comply with state privacy law or the Delete Act is decided by enforcement officers within that privacy agency.
To quickly view the complete list of companies that sell kids data, reproductive health data, or geolocation data, toggle the arrow buttons at the top of the screen on California’s online registry site.A parent or guardian who wishes to make a deletion request on a child’s behalf may do so by following the same steps necessary for any other Californian, but a business may require them to verify their identity with a government-issued ID card or phone or video call with a trained professional.