What DROP is
The Delete Act (SB 362) required California to build a single place where residents can ask every registered data broker to delete their personal information. That platform, DROP, opened to consumers on January 1, 2026. Brokers had to start processing requests on August 1, 2026, and must re-pull the deletion list at least every 45 days. They're also expected to keep honoring requests as they acquire new data.
Uptake has been strong: CalPrivacy reported more than 550,000 sign-ups by early October 2026.
How to use it, step by step
- Create a DROP account. Go to privacy.ca.gov/drop, the official site run by the California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy). It's free. Ignore look-alike sites that charge for “DROP filing.”
- Verify your California residency. The state verifies residency through its own identity gateway. Struckoff never sees your verification documents.
- Add every identifier you want deleted. Add each name you use (including maiden and former names), email addresses, phone numbers, and the addresses you've lived at. Brokers match on these, so more is better.
- Optional: add an authorized agent. DROP's rules let you name an authorized agent after you verify residency. The agent's name, email and trade name must be disclosed in your DROP account.
- Submit and note the date. Registered brokers began processing DROP requests on August 1, 2026 and must pull the list at least every 45 days, so allow about 45 days after your submission (or after August 1, if you signed up earlier).
- Check what's still up. After a cycle has passed, search the big people-search sites. Anything still listed is either unregistered, claiming an exemption, or not complying, and needs a direct opt-out.
Where DROP stops
- It's for California residents only. If you live anywhere else, DROP can't help yet.
- It only reaches registered brokers. A site that isn't on the state registry never receives your request.
- Brokers can claim exemptions. Public-record data, and data you gave a company directly, can be marked exempt. Much of what people-search sites display comes from public records.
- No custom removals and no proof. You can't target a specific listing, and you don't get evidence that anything came down.
- Compliance is uneven. Stanford researchers found that only a small share of registered brokers fully met the Delete Act's reporting requirements, and many added friction to consumer requests. Formal audits don't begin until 2028.
How Struckoff works with DROP
We don't compete with DROP; we build on it. For Californians, your plan includes a DROP companion that:
- walks you through sign-up and records your submission date,
- tracks the 45-day broker cycle and tells you when listings should be gone,
- re-checks the major people-search sites after each cycle, and
- files direct opt-outs, with proof, for anything still up, whether it's an unregistered site, an “exempt” response, or a broker that ignored the request.
You can also add Struckoff as your DROP authorized agent. That's optional; the state rules require our name, email and trade name to be disclosed in your DROP account.