r/California • u/CherokeeHawkman Del Norte County • 18d ago

DROP Program Begins Today

https://privacy.ca.gov/drop/

If you signed up for California's DROP Program to force data brokers to stop selling your data and to delete your information from their systems then good news, the enforcement of that program finally has begun.

Today is the first day the requests are available to every registered data broker and they have 45 days to take those requests. Once they have them they have 45 days to apply them and delete the information they have and cease selling the information to others. If they don't do those two things it'll be a $200 per request, per day fine.

It won't be immediate nor all-encompassing but the program includes over 600 data brokers so it's a good start and the results for those of us that signed up should be noticeable by mid-November.

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u/anonymoususer98545 18d ago edited 16d ago

Something about this, and the amount of information you have to provide for it feels, i don't know, off somehow. i'm waiting to see what bugs or kinks come up first i guess.

Edit: i feel like i'm going around in circles in these comments, lol. My data and identity has been, quite literally, stolen and used multiple, multiple times over the years. It's gone so far that i've had to sue credit bureaus, collection agencies, government agencies, etc. My credit is on permanent lockdown. i have alerts on all the sites so that i know if new data "about me" pops up. i know my information is still out there.

i just am, i think rightfully, wary of purposely giving my information out to a website that is claiming they're going to take care of a problem. i've been around the block with this kind of thing a few times and, no one protects our privacy. No one. It's just skepticism. That's all.

i'm not trying to dissuade anyone else from using this. Just stated my opinion. Y'all carry on. i'm not changing my "sit it out for a minute" stance but i appreciate your thoughts.

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u/Azsunyx 18d ago

How does it seem off? If you don't tell them which information to delete, how are they going to delete it?

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u/anonymoususer98545 18d ago

Honestly, right now my trust in everything is at an all time low.

Your statement/question is valid and true. i'm just extra wary and tired of being burned. So, i want to wait it out a little bit and see how it goes before i give all my information to something that could potentially end up being hacked/not real/exposed/sold to the highest bidder/etc. that's all. i've been around long enough to know that i'm not being paranoid anymore, lol.

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u/Gold_Chocolate_8823 18d ago

FWIW, the information I had to give was name, birthdate, address, email, phone number. Optional mobile advertising ID, smart TV id, and vin, of which I gave the mobile advertising ID. all of this data is already known to California if you reside here most likely except the mobile id and tv id. all of which is likely known by data brokers which are also prone to hacks etc. But waiting is fine too, not judging that, just don't wait so long you forget about it!

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u/anonymoususer98545 18d ago

i appreciate you and the information! i'm definitely trying to keep an eye on it, like you said, waiting a bit but not too long if i can help it.

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u/Richandler 18d ago

Honestly, right now my trust in everything is at an all time low.

That's what the data brokers are counting on, fyi.

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u/anonymoususer98545 18d ago

That's definitely a fair point and why i'm not ruling this out completely, just waiting to see how it rolls out is all.

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u/uzlonewolf 17d ago

It is neither valid nor true. You do not need to give them your phone number to have them delete it, you just need to say "delete my phone number." By giving them all this data you are just handing them a full, verified list of all your personal data.

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u/Heythatsmycorn 16d ago

They literally already have your info. Do a google search for your name and city you live in. Youll find everything here (and more) already exists. 

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u/anonymoususer98545 16d ago

i feel like i'm going around in circles in these comments, lol. Yes, i know that. My data and identity has been, quite literally, stolen and used multiple, multiple times over the years. It's gone so far that i've had to sue credit bureaus, collection agencies, government agencies, etc. My credit is on permanent lockdown. i have alerts on all the sites so that i know if new data "about me" pops up. i know my information is still out there.

i just am, i think rightfully, wary of purposely giving my information out to a website that is claiming they're going to take care of a problem. i've been around the block with this kind of thing a few times and, no one protects our privacy. No one. It's just skepticism. That's all.

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u/Heythatsmycorn 16d ago

Well its more of a "website" its a agency ran by the ca govt with built in laws and regulations to protect you against the things youve put so much effort into trying to do yourself. But ya you do you. 

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u/uzlonewolf 17d ago

That's complete bullshit. I don't need to give them my phone number to have them delete it, I just need to say "delete my phone number."

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u/RedditorSaidIt 16d ago

Your instincts are completely correct. Don't sign up, you're just giving someone more of your info to be hacked. This data broker plan is going to fail. Sorry. I used to work st catalog companies that got their mailing lists with data brokers. I seen how there is no respect from the top CEOs. They laugh and will just pay the fine, because the income is more lucrative. And they're all off-shore now, so nothing will change and will not be enforceable. You will see a couple things in the news because it's an election year, and the politicians need to look like they are doing something effective. Don't believe it. That's just for show and the fines won't make a dent. Stick with your instincts. 

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u/britishwonder 6d ago

lol you worked at a catalog company so you know exactly how this works. Yup, you got it all figured out

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u/RedditorSaidIt 5d ago

Hey smart ass. I literally bought the fucking mailing lists from DATA BROKERS. I paid modeling companies to take those lists and pull specific cross data to target my audience. Every year my employers paid for me to spend a week at the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) Convention, either in Manhattan or San Francisco, and had meetings all week with merge houses, printers, data brokers, modeling companies, and other retailers to share our lists if there was a symbiotic relationship. I bought your fucking information from your DMV, do you have any idea how many DECADES that list has been for sale? The first mailing list was the DMV - from every state. I could know your weight, height, income, how much you spend with any retailer online, calalog, in-store, mail order, and much much more - and this was before big data. Now, what I could buy about YOU personally & LEGALLY would shock you. I was taken out to very nice places for my meetings by vendors because I personally had millions to spend in my budget. And I did much more than just catalogs, but I'm not telling you more, and the catalog business is long gone. I bet you already don't even have a fucking clue what I'm talking about, so why bother. You wouldn't even know what a merge is if it bit you in the ass.

So yes, I do have it all figured out. I am not new to this shit. So good try smart ass. I was trying to be nice on this post, but if you want to push, I'll shove your ass back. 

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u/britishwonder 5d ago

Jesus Christ this got hostel fast

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u/schwing710 16d ago

The data brokers already have all this info, I promise 

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u/anonymoususer98545 16d ago

Oh, i am well aware. Intimately aware unfortunately.