You filed a deletion request through California's DROP platform, and nothing happened. No confirmation, no deletion, no reply. That silence might be normal, or it might be a broker breaking the law, and the difference is a clock you cannot see. DROP, the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, opened to California consumers on January 1, 2026. Brokers have to retrieve requests from it at least once every 45 days, and process each request within 45 days of receipt. The penalty for failing is 200 dollars per request, per day.
The Delete Act, SB 362, signed in October 2023, built the platform. One consumer request covers all 590-plus registered data brokers, and the consumer verifies residency through the California Identity Gateway or Login.gov, then gets an 8 digit DROP ID. The broker side of that transaction is where the clock runs, and it started on August 1, 2026.
Most people-search opt-outs hold for 30 to 90 days before the listing reappears, because brokers continuously re-ingest public records. Spokeo typically relists in 30 to 60 days, Whitepages in 60 to 90 days, and the fix is a renewal calendar: re-check the top sites every 60 to 90 days and re-file every 3 to 6 months.
An opt-out removes a snapshot, not the source. The broker's database is fed by county records, voter rolls, utility hookups, and property deeds, and those records never stop being published. You move, the new county files a property record, and a new profile appears. You hook up utilities at a new address, and that data is sold downstream. The broker re-pulls the public records, rebuilds your profile from records it has never seen, and the listing is back.
The timeframes are consistent across the opt-out guides. Spokeo relists in 30 to 60 days. Whitepages holds 60 to 90 days, partly because its phone verification adds friction. BeenVerified is similar. The guides that timed the process put the general range at 3 to 6 months for most brokers, with the big people-search sites on the shorter end. There is no permanent removal from a site whose underlying feed never stops, and any service that promises one is selling a subscription, not a deletion.
Month one is the initial sweep: the tier one sites first, Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, Radaris, Intelius, because they are the highest traffic, the most scraped, and the most used by scammers. Each opt-out takes 5 to 10 minutes per listing, and Spokeo takes email verification while Whitepages takes a phone call with a four-digit code. Month two is verification: check that the tier one removals took, and finish the tier three sites.
Then the calendar repeats. Every 60 to 90 days, re-check Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified and Radaris for new listings. Every 6 months, run the full sweep of tier one and tier two again. Set a calendar reminder for 60 days from the first filing, and treat it like a bill: the task is not done, it recurs. A removal service like DeleteMe does the same cycle for you, re-checking every 90 days, which is the same schedule, automated.
California residents have a stronger tool. The Delete Act created the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform, DROP, and registered brokers must check it at least once every 45 days and process requests, with processing starting August 1, 2026. One verifiable request through DROP covers every registered broker at once, instead of one site at a time. More than 500 companies had registered as data brokers when the annual registration window closed on January 31, 2026.
The limit is jurisdiction. DROP applies only to California residents and only to brokers registered with the state. It does not reach the unregistered brokers, and it does not reach the people-search sites that operate outside the registration system. For everyone else, and for the sites DROP does not cover, the renewal calendar is still the tool. File DROP if you are in California, and keep the manual calendar for everything it does not reach.
Keep reading: Who we protect covers a nearby case in this series.
Usually 30 to 90 days for the big people-search sites: Spokeo 30 to 60 days, Whitepages 60 to 90 days. Most brokers re-list within 3 to 6 months as they re-ingest public records.
The opt-out removed the current snapshot. The broker then re-pulled fresh public records, like a new property deed or voter registration, and rebuilt your profile from records it had never seen.
Every 60 to 90 days for the top sites, and a full sweep every 6 months. Set a calendar reminder, because the relisting happens quietly and nobody notifies you.
Not entirely. DROP covers registered brokers for California residents, with brokers required to check at least once every 45 days. It does not cover unregistered brokers or people-search sites outside the system, so keep the manual calendar for those.