{"id":133294,"date":"2026-01-14T14:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133294\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T14:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:44:09","slug":"a-new-california-website-blocks-data-brokers-heres-how-to-use-it-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133294\/","title":{"rendered":"A new California website blocks data brokers. Here’s how to use it"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story<\/a>\u00a0was originally published by CalMatters.\u00a0Sign up<\/a>\u00a0for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

The California Privacy Protection Agency kicked off 2026 by launching a tool that state residents can use to make data brokers delete and stop selling their personal information.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The system, known as the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform<\/a>, or DROP, has been in the works for years, mandated by a 2023 law known as the Delete Act<\/a>. Under it and previous laws, data brokers must register with the state and enable consumers to tell brokers to stop tracking them and selling their information.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Until now, those instructions had to be delivered to each data broker individually \u2014 not an easy feat, given that more than 500<\/a> brokers were registered in the state as of the end of last year. Making things even more difficult, some brokers obscured their opt-out forms<\/a> from search results, as The Markup and CalMatters revealed in August.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new system delivers privacy instructions<\/a> to every registered broker at once. Launched on Jan. 1, it is open to all California residents. By law, the hundreds of data brokers registered with the state must begin processing those requests in August.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to take advantage of it.<\/p>\n

Finding your advertising IDs<\/p>\n

DROP asks you to provide some basic information \u2014 your name, email address, phone number and ZIP code\u00a0\u2014 so data brokers can find you in their systems. You can submit the form with just this information, but if you\u2019d like a more thorough deletion, you can also provide your mobile advertising IDs from your phones, smart TVs and vehicles. Including these IDs can help brokers match more of your data, but you have to take the time to collect them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Click here to jump ahead<\/a> if you want to provide basic information only, or continue reading for instructions on providing mobile advertising IDs for:<\/p>\n

Android phones and tablets<\/p>\n

Apple iPhones and iPads<\/p>\n

Vehicle ID numbers and smart TVs<\/p>\n

Personal computers<\/p>\n

Android phones and tablets<\/p>\n

The steps below may vary slightly depending on your device and operating system version, but the general process is the same:<\/p>\n

\"AdsHow to find the mobile advertising ID on an Android phone. (Photo by Miles Hilton\/CalMatters)<\/p>\n

Open Settings.<\/p>\n

At the top of the Settings screen, select the menu option with your name, followed by \u201cGoogle services and preferences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Select the All services tab.<\/p>\n

Scroll to the Privacy & Security section, and select Ads. Scroll to the bottom of that screen to get your advertising ID, which will look like a string of random numbers and letters separated by four hyphens. Save that ID for the DROP form.<\/p>\n

On the same screen, you can find options to reset or delete your advertising ID. The CCPA suggests resetting your ID<\/a> \u201cbecause it breaks the persistent tracking link that advertisers, data brokers and apps use to build long-term behavioral profiles of your device.\u201d Alternatively, deleting the ID<\/a> should prevent ID-based data tracking from happening at all.<\/p>\n

Apple iPhones and iPads<\/p>\n

Apple doesn\u2019t provide a way for iOS users to see their mobile advertising ID, which it calls the Identifier for Advertisers, or IDFA. But it does provide a way for users to prevent trackers from accessing these IDs.<\/p>\n

To turn off tracking, first, adjust your Screen Time settings:<\/p>\n

Open Settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scroll down and select Screen Time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scroll down and select Content & Privacy Restrictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scroll down and select Allow Apps to Request to Track.<\/p>\n

Select Don\u2019t Allow Changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, adjust your Tracking settings:<\/p>\n

Open Settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scroll down and select Privacy & Security.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Select Tracking.<\/p>\n

Toggle OFF the option to Allow Apps to Request to Track.<\/p>\n

Apple has its own ads system that doesn\u2019t use an IDFA. To disable that:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Open Settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scroll down and select Privacy & Security.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scroll down and select Apple Advertising.<\/p>\n

Toggle OFF the Personalized Ads option.<\/p>\n

A quick note for our technically savvy readers: If you\u2019ve already turned tracking off, you might be tempted to turn it back on to look up your advertising ID using a third-party app, but it\u2019s unnecessary. Re-enabling tracking will reset the ID, limiting its usefulness to data brokers \u2014 they can\u2019t continue tracking data or delivering personalized ads using a device ID that no longer exists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vehicle ID numbers and smart TVs<\/p>\n

Vehicles can track their owners<\/a> in surprisingly invasive ways, and you can provide a vehicle\u2019s identification number, or VIN, in case data brokers have that information. Where your VIN is will depend on the vehicle<\/a>, but common places include on the dash on the driver\u2019s side, or on a sticker in the jamb of the front passenger door. Your vehicle registration documents should also have your VIN listed.<\/p>\n

Smart TVs also use advertising IDs. Here\u2019s a guide<\/a> that provides some settings for common brands. If the guide doesn\u2019t cover your smart TV, try checking under its privacy or advertising settings. But be aware that this is different from numbers like the model code and serial number.<\/p>\n

Personal computers<\/p>\n

Laptop and desktop computers use unique identifiers to share data, but these are harder to find than mobile advertising IDs. Instead, you can turn off tracking, which will delete those IDs. (Turning tracking\u00a0on again will generally reset the IDs.)<\/p>\n

On computers running Windows<\/a>, you can turn off your advertising ID by going to Settings. Depending on your OS version, select Privacy or Privacy & security. Then select General, and adjust your settings there.<\/p>\n

On Mac computers, navigate to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising. Then, toggle off Personalized Ads.<\/p>\n

The California Privacy Protection Agency also provides some of its own guidance<\/a> on finding advertising IDs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Verify your identity<\/p>\n

Go to the DROP website<\/a>. You\u2019ll be asked to accept the terms of use and be directed to a page that asks you to prove you\u2019re a California resident. There are two ways to do so, and you can\u2019t change methods once you\u2019ve selected one of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The system allows you to verify your identity using personal information through a system called the California Identity Gateway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you select this option, you\u2019ll be asked to provide some basic personal information, like a phone number, email address, California address or your Social Security number. The gateway will use this information to attempt to verify your residency directly with the state. This option should be quick if you have an email address and phone number.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, you can verify your identity to DROP using login.gov, a system that some federal and state agencies in the United States have adopted to allow residents to interact with government services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To sign up for a login.gov account, you\u2019ll be asked to provide an email address, create a password and provide photos of government-issued identification. After signing up and verifying your identity, you should be able to move on to the next step. This option might take a little more effort than the first option, since ID is required, but might be faster if you\u2019ve already signed up for an account for other purposes.<\/p>\n

\"WebpageA form on California\u2019s DROP website. (Photo by CalMatters staff)<\/p>\n

Fill out and submit the DROP form<\/p>\n

After verifying your identity, you\u2019ll get to a form where you can submit multiple versions of your name, up to three ZIP codes, up to three email addresses, up to three phone numbers, advertising IDs from your mobile devices and smart TVs, and VINs for your vehicles. You\u2019ll be asked to verify your email addresses and phone numbers with single-use codes before submitting. (The agency notes there may be delays with some verification codes due to high volume.)<\/p>\n

Once you submit the form, you\u2019ll get a unique DROP ID to check the status of your request.<\/p>\n

What happens now?<\/p>\n

Sit back and wait. While the window for making DROP requests has opened, data brokers registered with the state aren\u2019t required to handle them just yet. On Aug. 1, brokers will begin processing the requests.<\/p>\n

Starting then, companies have 45 days to process requests and 90 days to report back on how they handled requests. If they fail to do so, the companies can face financial penalties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the meantime, you can monitor the status of your request<\/a> with your DROP ID. At some point later in the year, when you log in the system should tell you whether your data was successfully deleted, whether records on you weren\u2019t found or whether companies believed the data was exempt from deletion under the law, which provides some limited ways for brokers to hold on to data.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you find more information while you\u2019re waiting for your request to be processed, like a new mobile advertising ID, you can update your request with that information, increasing the odds you\u2019ll successfully get your data deleted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/a>\u00a0is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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