Data brokers collect names and old addresses, then resell that file to marketers and other companies you never actually hired. You didn't open an account with them. They still built a profile.
If you live in California, you can send one deletion request through the state's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP). Registered brokers pull from that shared list instead of chasing 600 separate inboxes.
Is DROP a wipe of every people-search page on the internet? It isn't. It's a California deletion channel with a residency check and a slow broker clock.
Who can use DROP
Turns out you have to prove California residency before the request even goes in. No request goes out until that check finishes.
The portal uses the definition in section 17014 of Title 18 of the California Code of Regulations, as that section read on September 1, 2017, and if the verification vendors can't confirm you, you may ask for a review under section 7622 of Title 11 of those regulations.
That review path is in the DROP terms. People who don't live in California can't file as residents. Their path is each company's own privacy form, plus any other state law that actually covers them.
How to submit a deletion request
Work through the portal in this order:
- Open the consumer DROP site and start a request.
- Finish the California residency check.
- Submit the deletion request.
- Write down the 8-digit DROP ID on the confirmation page.
Keep the ID. Status checks later depend on it.
The confirmation page is not a deletion receipt. Brokers still have to pull the list and match you.
What registered brokers have to do
CalPrivacy launched DROP on January 1, 2026. Brokers start processing deletion lists on August 1, 2026.
From that date they must access the mechanism at least once every 45 days, download hashed requests, and compare them with records they hold. See the CPPA data broker page and how DROP works.
If they find a match, they must delete your information on a rolling 45-day basis, subject to limited exceptions. They have up to 90 days to report status, according to CalPrivacy's explainer.
Thing is, a hash only hits when the identifiers match. A leftover work email or a maiden name in their file can make the comparison miss you.
More than 600 active data brokers sit in the program, and that count is not a speed promise.
What a DROP request does not do
A DROP filing will not crawl the open web and blank every reprint of your address on random people-search pages that sit outside the registry. It only hits registered brokers in this system.
It does not stop new collection forever. Public records can flow back in. A company that already bought your file last year is not automatically on the same ticket.
You can get a "no match" result. That can mean they never had you, or they had you under details you didn't enter.
If you live outside California
You cannot use DROP as a California resident. Use the privacy or "do not sell" page on the company that actually listed you, and save the date you sent it.
When a listing is still up
To be honest, an old address can still appear on a people-search result after you file.
You might search yourself, find an old listing, assume DROP failed, search again a week later, and still see the same snippet because that operator isn't in the California broker set or because the hash never matched.
If a specific site still hosts you, use that site's removal form and keep a note. For registered brokers in this program, stay on the official California Privacy Protection Agency pages rather than random opt-out blogs.
If you're a California resident, start at the DROP consumer portal. Verify residency, submit once, and save the 8-digit ID. Give brokers the 45-day access cycle and the 90-day status window before you decide the request went nowhere.