The Delete Button Data Brokers Fear and How It’s Changing Privacy for Californians

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Ever googled yourself and found your personal details scattered across shady people search sites, only to realize that removing them feels like playing privacy whack-a-mole? You’re not alone. In this episode of Tech Brewed, Greg Doig dives into the shadowy world of data brokers: companies quietly trading in millions of personal records, from health and shopping habits to political views. But something big just changed. As of August 1st, California has introduced America’s first true “delete button”—a single, free request that forces more than 500 data brokers to erase, and keep erasing, what they know about you. Does it work? Will it spread? And what about the rest of us outside California, still stuck in the perpetual game of digital hide-and-seek? Stay tuned as we break down how this historic privacy law works, which tools really protect you, and what comes next in the fight to control your own data.

Further Research

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

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/what-you-need-know-about-californias-drop-tool#Filing

https://lapublicpress.org/2026/07/data-broker-california-drop/

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