Remove your data where you live
How to remove your personal information in California
Quick answer
Start with DROP, California's free tool that sends one deletion request to every registered data broker at once. Then use the CCPA to ask companies that aren't brokers, like stores, apps and services you've used, to delete what they hold. After that, check what Google still shows and deal with people-search sites outside the state registry one by one.
All privacy laws“Allows a consumer, through a single verifiable consumer request, to request that every data broker that maintains any personal information delete any personal information related to that consumer held by the data broker or associated service provider or contractor.”
- Applies in
- California
- Companies must answer within
- DROP: brokers process requests within 45 days of receiving them, and CalPrivacy says statuses can take up to 90 days to appear. CCPA: 45 calendar days, or 90 with a notified extension.
- Last updated
Head of Product & Co-Founder
Reviewed by Ludwig Sandgren
Head of Legal
Serus is a privacy company with paid tools to find and remove your personal data. This page is free and based on official sources.
Sources checked: privacy.ca.gov, cppa.ca.gov, oag.ca.gov
Last verified against the official page:
California residents, including people whose home is in California but who are temporarily out of state. DROP reaches registered data brokers; CCPA requests reach covered for-profit businesses one at a time.
How to use it
- 1
File one DROP request
Go to privacy.ca.gov/drop, choose Get started with DROP, accept the terms and confirm you live in California. Only your name, date of birth and ZIP code are required. Add the optional email and phone number too: they help brokers match your records. It's free and covers every data broker registered with the state. Our Delete Act and DROP guide walks through each screen.
- 2
Save your DROP ID and come back every 45 days
You get an 8-digit DROP ID when you submit. Use it on the DROP status page to see each result: Deleted, Exempted, Opted-out, Record not found or Pending. CalPrivacy says statuses can take up to 90 days to show. You can update your request once every 45 days, which is the time to add details if brokers couldn't find you.
- 3
Send CCPA requests to companies you deal with directly
DROP doesn't touch data held by companies you have a relationship with, like your bank, phone carrier, apps or online stores. For those, send a deletion request under the CCPA through the methods in each company's privacy policy. They have 45 calendar days to answer, or 90 if they tell you they need longer. Pick the companies that matter most to you rather than trying to cover everyone.
- 4
Check what Google still shows
Search your name with your city, and your phone number on its own. A deleted broker profile can keep showing in results until Google revisits the page, so a result that still appears may be the old copy. Google has its own removal request process for results that show contact details like your home address or phone number.
- 5
Handle sites outside the registry
Some people-search sites won't show up in DROP at all. For those, use each site's own opt-out form. Our guides cover the big ones step by step: Spokeo, BeenVerified, TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch, Intelius and TruthFinder. A covered business that sells or shares your data also has to honor a CCPA opt-out of sale or sharing, even if it never collected the data from you.
- 6
Complain when someone ignores you
If a broker misses its DROP window or a company ignores a CCPA request, follow up in writing, then file a complaint with CalPrivacy. For CCPA violations you can also use the Attorney General's complaint form.
No answer in time? Complain to California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) .
Why DROP comes first
DROP does in one request what used to take dozens of separate opt-outs, and it costs nothing. As of August 25, 2026, 654 data brokers were part of DROP, according to CalPrivacy. Brokers have had to process DROP requests since August 1, 2026, and once a broker deletes your data it has to keep deleting anything new about you at least every 45 days.
The catch is time. Brokers check DROP every 45 days and then report back, so it can take up to 90 days before you see where things stand. Start it today and do the other steps while you wait.
Brokers do seem able to move quickly. Of 263 data brokers that reported deletion-request figures to the California data broker registry for 2024, 156 said they complied in full with every deletion request, and the median broker reported answering in 3 days. Those numbers are self-reported by the brokers.
What the law won't remove
Some data stays no matter which route you use:
- Credit reports and financial data. Information covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (credit reports) or the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (banks and other financial institutions) is exempt from both DROP and CCPA deletion, to the extent those federal laws cover it.
- Public records. Publicly available information isn't deleted through DROP.
- Data a company needs to keep. A business can hold on to information it reasonably needs for purposes the law allows, such as finishing a transaction you asked for.
So a broker answering Exempted isn't necessarily breaking the rules.
If you're not a California resident
DROP checks residency, so it won't work for you, and the CCPA rights belong to California residents. Your own state's privacy law, or each broker's opt-out form, is the route instead.
Where Serus fits
DROP and the CCPA are the right starting point, and they're free. They don't cover people-search sites outside the registry, results that linger in Google, or listings that come back months later. Serus handles those: it finds the brokers and people-search sites that list you where you live, sends the removal requests, gets results removed from Google search and keeps checking for relistings.
Data brokers that list people in United States
Each guide shows how to opt out of that site, step by step.
- Remove yourself from CourtRecords.us
- Remove yourself from TruePeopleSearch
- Remove yourself from Spokeo
- Remove yourself from LexisNexis
- Remove yourself from TruthFinder
- Remove yourself from FastPeopleSearch
- Remove yourself from BeenVerified
- Remove yourself from Intelius
Let Serus send the requests for you
Serus finds the data brokers that list you where you live and removes you from them.
Related
Frequently asked
Is there a free way to remove my personal information in California?
Yes. DROP, run by the California Privacy Protection Agency, is free and sends one deletion request to every registered data broker. CCPA requests to individual companies are free too.
How long does it take to get removed from data brokers in California?
Brokers must process DROP requests within 45 days of receiving them, and CalPrivacy says it can take up to 90 days to see a status. From January 1, 2027, the processing window is 30 days under AB 883, according to CalPrivacy.
What if a people-search site isn't in DROP?
Use the site's own opt-out form, and if the company is covered by the CCPA, tell it to stop selling or sharing your information. You can also report a broker that should be registered to CalPrivacy.
Can someone remove my information for me?
Yes. DROP supports authorized agents, and under the CCPA you can authorize another person to send requests for you. A business may ask for proof that you gave permission.
Will DROP remove me from Google?
Not directly. DROP asks brokers to delete their records. A search result can keep showing until Google revisits the page, and Google has its own removal request process for results with your contact details.
Sources
- privacy.ca.gov/drop/
- privacy.ca.gov/drop/how-drop-works/
- privacy.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/357/2026/03/data_broker_reg_delete_act_statute_eff_20260101.pdf
- privacy.ca.gov/2026/08/half-a-million-californians-have-signed-up-for-drop-to-delete-their-personal-information-from-data-brokers/
- privacy.ca.gov/drop-for-data-brokers/
- cppa.ca.gov/regulations/pdf/cppa_act.pdf
- oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa
- cppa.ca.gov/data_broker_registry/
- cppa.ca.gov/webapplications/complaint
- oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company
- support.google.com/websearch/answer/9673730
- support.google.com/websearch/answer/12719076
- support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7041154
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