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Californians can protect their personal data with one click. Help us test if it works

The Markup · · International · Surveillance & Civil Liberties

California has launched a one-click tool that allows residents to direct data brokers to stop collecting or selling their personal information. A public investigation is underway to test whether brokers are actually honoring those requests.

Why this matters: California built the tool. That part is done. The harder part is whether data brokers follow through when nobody is watching. These companies make money selling your information, so compliance is not their natural instinct. A one-click opt-out is only useful if it actually stops anything. Right now, that is an open question. The investigation matters because if brokers ignore requests at scale, the tool is just the appearance of control, not the real thing.

Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy

This summary is AI-assisted and may contain errors. It is an original briefing to help you gauge significance quickly — not a reproduction of the source. Always read the linked original before relying on it. See our methodology.

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