People search sites verify opt out requests to stop rivals and pranksters deleting other people's listings, which is a real problem with a self serving solution: the verification step collects fresh contact data from the very people trying to be forgotten. Knowing which verification demands are normal, and which are a data grab, keeps the removal from becoming a new listing.
DROP is California's single deletion request system for registered data brokers. It began taking consumer requests on January 1, 2026, and registered brokers were required to start processing them in August 2026. The system covers more than 600 active brokers, according to the California Privacy Protection Agency, and it does a job no individual opt out can do: it reaches brokers you have never heard of.
A data broker gathers personal information and sells or shares it, often without any direct relationship with the person described. People search sites are one visible kind; the broker market behind them is larger and mostly invisible. Before DROP, deleting from that market meant finding each broker, learning each opt out process, and repeating the cycle as listings returned. DROP replaces the finding step for California residents with one request to the registered broker list.
DROP is not an eraser for the internet. It does not remove public records, which sit with government offices, and it does not reach brokers outside its registration system or information a broker holds under a legal exemption. Removing a profile from a broker and removing the underlying public record are different jobs, and a plan that confuses them will disappoint.
A resident submits one deletion request through the official DROP portal. Registered brokers then process it under the system's rules. Around it, the ordinary CCPA timelines still matter for direct requests to a specific business: the general response period for a verifiable consumer request is 45 days, with extensions in limited circumstances, and an opt out of sale or sharing works on a different track from a deletion request.
Keep the two tracks separate in your own records. An opt out may stop certain sales, sharing, or targeted advertising while leaving a public profile visible. A deletion request asks the business to remove stored information, subject to exceptions. Filing one and expecting the other's result is the most common reason people conclude that removal does not work.
File the site specific removals for the profiles you can actually see, starting with the people search sites that list you, and keep the confirmations. Check back on a cycle, because the Federal Trade Commission warns that listings can return when public records change, and researchers put the resurfacing window at roughly 30 to 90 days as databases refresh. A quarterly recheck is part of the work, not a sign of failure.
Save every confirmation number and date in one file. Delisting projects stall on missing paperwork: the exact URLs, the confirmations, and the dates. A realistic plan is measured in a quarter, and the file is what makes the second cycle faster than the first.
Keep reading: Who we protect covers a nearby case in this series.
California residents, for deletion requests to registered data brokers. The system launched for consumer requests in January 2026, and registered brokers began processing requests in August 2026.
No. Public records sit with the government offices that hold them. DROP reaches registered brokers' holdings, not the underlying records, which is why profiles can resurface when records refresh.
No. An opt out stops certain sales, sharing, or targeted advertising and may leave a profile visible. A deletion request asks for stored information to be removed, subject to legal exceptions. They are separate tracks with separate results.
Quarterly is a workable cycle. Listings commonly resurface within 30 to 90 days as databases refresh from public records, so a single removal pass never holds permanently.