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ARTICLE · 14 AUGUST 2026

California’s DROP Enforcement Phase Is Live

Barnes & Thornburg LLP
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California's Delete Act creates severe financial exposure for data brokers through a $200-per-request, per-day penalty structure with no aggregate cap. Companies that license, resell, or enrich consumer data outside direct customer relationships may face millions in potential fines if they fail to register or process deletion requests through the state's DROP platform every 45 days.

United StatesPrivacy
Brian McGinnis
Brian McGinnis
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CalPrivacy’s Enforcement Record Already Shows the Agency Means It

Highlights

  • California’s Delete Act imposes a $200-per-request, per-day penalty, with no fixed aggregate cap in the penalty formula, on data brokers that fail to process deletion requests as required. A broker holding matchable records for just 5,000 consumers in California’s deletion queue could face $45 million in potential statutory exposure if those matching requests remained undeleted for a full 45-day period. As of Aug. 1, this obligation is in effect for registered California data brokers, and it creates obvious risk for companies that should have registered but did not.
  • CalPrivacy has brought multiple data broker enforcement actions since late 2024, including actions involving S&P Global and National Public Data. In June 2026, CalPrivacy reportedly fined WINR Data, Clarivate, and Decision Resources for erroneous registry disclosures despite timely registrations and voluntary self-correction. On Aug. 11,

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