Californians plagued by spam emails and calls now have an easy way to clear their names from data brokers’ lists — and it’s free.
The California Privacy Protection Agency, or CalPrivacy, has launched an initiative to get the word out about the DROP tool — Delete Request and Opt-out Platform — which will do exactly that.
The free tool to remove personal data, which launched in January, can be found here.
“This data is being used in a lot of ways that probably the average California doesn’t want it to be used,” said CPPA director Tom Kemp. “You can just type in your name and your address and see all these websites that are selling these things about you.”
That data goes far beyond name and address, up to and including age, ethnic background, shopping tastes, Social Security numbers, and precise location information.
Two people at the SDSU campus hold CalPrivacy pamphlets and smile at the camera. (Photo courtesy CalPrivacy)And there’s more: data brokers are working with the federal government to turn over sensitive data, up to and including information that is being used to target immigrants for deportation.
“There’s over fifty data brokers that sell your data to the federal government, so we know who they are,” said Kemp. “The beautiful thing is if you go to the DROP system, you get your data deleted from not only those 50, but 500-plus others.”
His agency says they have already signed up more than 285,000 Californians for the first mass deletion of data, which is scheduled for August, and are trying to get the word out in multiple languages to reach still more people.
“It is incredibly popular,” Kemp said. “There is such a pent up demand.”
But they are hoping more people hear about the tool, particularly the young and the elderly, who may be unaware of how data harvesting works to make people exceptionally vulnerable to scams using stolen or sold information.
People only need to sign up for the service once and their information will be off-limits to data brokers from then on. Kemp added that also applies to all new data brokers added to their system in the future, and that they plan to enforce it.
“We’re working towards this crescendo of the first deletion happening in August,” he said. “Starting in August you’re going to hear a big sucking sound as all the data gets deleted by the data brokers.”
The agency spent Tuesday at the San Diego State University campus, and will have a presence at the Vista Strawberry Festival on May 24. The full list of appearances around the state can be found here.
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