The claim
California's Delete Act (Senate Bill 362, Chapter 709, Statutes of 2023) required the California Privacy Protection Agency to establish an accessible deletion mechanism by January 1, 2026. The agency calls it DROP, the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform. Under Civil Code § 1798.99.86, the mechanism allows a consumer (the agency's DROP page says a California resident) to ask, through a single verifiable consumer request, every data broker that maintains personal information about them to delete it, and it may not charge the consumer for the request. Beginning August 1, 2026, a data broker must access the mechanism at least once every 45 days and process deletion requests within 45 days after receiving them. When a broker denies a deletion request because it cannot be verified, the statute says the broker must process it as an opt-out of the sale or sharing of the consumer's personal information.
The receipt
Allows a consumer, through a single verifiable consumer request, to request that every data broker that maintains any personal information delete any personal information related to that consumer held by the data broker or associated service provider or contractor.
The accessible deletion mechanism shall not charge a consumer to make a request described in paragraph (1).
Beginning August 1, 2026, a data broker shall access the accessible deletion mechanism established pursuant to subdivision (a) at least once every 45 days and do all of the following: (A) Within 45 days after receiving a request made pursuant to this section, process all deletion requests made pursuant to this section and delete all personal information related to the consumers making the requests consistent with the requirements of this section.
Beginning August 1, 2026, after a consumer has submitted a deletion request and a data broker has deleted the consumer's data pursuant to this section, the data broker shall not sell or share new personal information of the consumer unless the consumer requests otherwise or selling or sharing the personal information is permitted under Section 1798.145 or 1798.146.
To be eligible to submit a deletion request in DROP, you must be a California resident.
What the rule doesn't cover
The Delete Act applies to data brokers, which Civil Code § 1798.99.80 defines as businesses that knowingly collect and sell to third parties the personal information of a consumer with whom the business does not have a direct relationship. The same definition leaves out entities to the extent they are covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act or California's Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act, and certain health data exempt under § 1798.146.
Section 1798.99.86(c)(2) says a broker is not required to delete information when keeping it is reasonably necessary for a purpose listed in § 1798.105(d), or when deletion is not required under § 1798.145 or 1798.146. The agency's pages say information you give a business directly, such as when you create an account, is not subject to deletion by DROP, and they list public records among the examples of exempt data.
The residency requirement comes from the agency's page; this page does not quote the statute's definition of "consumer." The agency also says it could take up to 90 days to see a status update in DROP. This page does not cover other states' data broker laws.
What you can do
DROP is run by the California Privacy Protection Agency at privacy.ca.gov/drop. The agency's "How DROP works" page says a request needs a name, date of birth and ZIP code, and that specific data brokers can be removed from a request on the data broker list page inside DROP.
The agency's data broker registry lists businesses that registered as data brokers, with the information each provided during registration. On its DROP information pages, the agency describes request statuses such as deleted, exempted, partial deletions and opted-out; those statuses are what a request can be read against. A question the agency's pages address: which status each broker shows, and why.
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Sources: Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.86 · Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.80 (Title 1.81.48) · CalPrivacy: DROP · CalPrivacy: personal information and data brokers · CalPrivacy: how DROP works · CalPrivacy: data broker registry
Sources last checked: October 18, 2026.
Everything here is consumer information — not financial or legal advice. It covers what a rule says and where to find it; the decisions stay yours.