Governor Newsom announces first-in-the-nation privacy tool allowing Californians to block the sale of their data

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and the California Privacy Protection Agency are unveiling a new tool that enables Californians to easily opt out of the sale of their information by data brokers. As of January 1, 2026, Californians can submit a single deletion request to registered data brokers through the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP). DROP quickly verifies the user’s California residency and then transmits the deletion request to the data brokers. Data brokers must start processing deletion requests on August 1, 2026.  DROP helps give Californians better control over their data and simplifies the process of requesting that data brokers stop sharing and selling their data. Previously, consumers would have to make requests to each data broker individually, making the process extremely difficult and time-consuming.