DROP (Delete Request and Opt-out Platform) is a new, centralized privacy tool launched by the State of California on January 1, 2026 for the residents of California. It them to submit a single request that legally requires over 500 registered data brokers to delete their personal information.

Mandated by the Delete Act (Senate Bill 362), the platform shifts the burden of privacy protection from the individual to the data industry, replacing the need to contact hundreds of companies one by one.

Its enforcement starts from August 1, 2026.

Data brokers scrape public records, social media, and app usage to build detailed profiles (including financial status, health interests, and location history) which they sell to advertisers, insurers, and even scammers.

Before DROP, Californians had to identify and contact each broker individually—an impossible task given there are over 500 of them. DROP centralizes this into a single “universal opt-out” signal. Brokers that fail to comply with DROP requests face civil penalties and administrative fines enforced by the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA).

BTW, there exists many paid and free non-Governmental tools to delete your data from data brokers, like DuckDuckGo’s Personal Information Removal service, Optery, DeleteMe, etc. These tools may cover more data brokers than DROP, but they are not as legally binding.