California Data Brokers Deny Thousands of Deletion Requests

In 2024, data brokers across California rejected nearly 900,000 consumer requests to remove personal information.

Updated on Oct. 16, 2026 in Cybersecurity

Isometric editorial illustration showing a grid of metallic cubes with several missing, representing data deletion and system friction. — California data brokers rejected nearly 900,000 consumer requests to delete personal information in 2024, despite millions of submissions to control digital privacy. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Should data brokers be legally required to honor all consumer requests to delete personal information?

Data brokers operating in California turned down 890,712 consumer personal data deletion requests throughout 2024. This figure emerges from a total volume of 58,031,327 requests submitted by residents seeking to control their digital footprint.

Why it matters

The high denial rate highlights significant friction in the state's efforts to provide consumers with control over their personal information. These figures emphasize the ongoing challenges regulators face in enforcing privacy compliance among hundreds of registered data-collecting firms.

Of the 603 registered data brokers in California, 115 companies actively collect precise geolocation data on users. Additionally, 22 separate firms denied 90% of all deletion requests they received during the 2024 reporting period.

The players

Live Data Technologies

This data brokerage firm is one of the entities that rejected the vast majority of consumer deletion requests.

HealthWise Data

This organization is a data broker that denied over 88,000 personal information removal requests.

33 Mile Radius

This company is a registered data broker that turned away over 62,000 requests to delete consumer information.

Control D

This entity is responsible for accessing and analyzing the California state data broker registry files.

The details

Companies such as Live Data Technologies, HealthWise Data, and 33 Mile Radius were identified as having denied tens of thousands of requests individually. The state created the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform in January 2026 to streamline the process, requiring brokers to match records every 45 days or face a $200 daily penalty for each unprocessed request.

During 2024, consumers submitted over 58 million data deletion requests.
In 2025, 88 brokers reported the collection of precise geolocation data.
California launched the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform in January 2026.
Control D downloaded California state data broker registry files on September 24, 2026.

The Tech Race

This activity reflects the escalating tension between state-mandated privacy platforms and the lucrative data-brokerage industry. As California integrates the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, it shifts the competitive landscape by forcing brokers to automate compliance or face daily financial penalties.

Consumers should be aware that submitting a request does not guarantee immediate deletion, as some brokers continue to deny the majority of incoming requests. Despite these hurdles, the platform has successfully enabled the removal of approximately 60 million consumer profiles to date.

The takeaway

Privacy rights remain difficult to exercise when individual brokers maintain high denial rates for deletion requests. Residents should monitor their digital footprint and stay updated on the state platform's evolving capabilities for data removal.