LOCKED Series: Right to Equal Treatment & Right to Delete

Welcome to our third and final post in our LOCKED blog series! This series covers your California privacy rights. Previously, we’ve covered the right to limit, opt-out, correct, and know. We encourage you to go back and read our previous posts if you haven’t already. In our final post, we define the right to equal treatment and the right to delete.

Right to Delete

As a Californian, you have the right to delete personal information that businesses have collected from you. This applies to all businesses subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

To exercise your right to delete, The business is required to offer at least two different ways you can submit this request (e.g. email, toll-free number, mailing address, online request form).

There are a few places you can find this information on a businesses’ website. The privacy policy should have a section labeled “Your California Privacy Rights”, “Rights Under the CCPA”, or something similar. You also might find it in the footer links at the bottom of the homepage. If you’re in an app, look in the settings for the business’ privacy policy.

Once you submit your deletion request, the business has 45 days to delete your information, with the option of a 45-day extension if they provide you with notice. The business will require you to verify your identity to prevent fraudulent requests that can do you harm. Some exceptions apply to your right to delete, but the business must provide you with an explanation if they deny your request.

Data Brokers

For most businesses, you can follow the instructions above to assert your right to delete. However, there are businesses that sell your personal information whom you’ve never intentionally interacted with, covered by a different law called the Delete Act. Those businesses are called data brokers.

The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) hosts the California Data Broker Registry where every data broker who does business in California is required to register. The registry contains the businesses’ name, email, and website.

Starting in 2026, CalPrivacy is launching a simple way to submit to data brokers: the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform, or DROP for short. DROP is the first platform in the world that will allow you to submit requests to your data to every registered data broker at once. Here’s how it works:

1. First, verify your identity as a California resident.
2. Next, create a profile with basic personal information.
3. Submit your delete request.

Consumers can begin signing up for DROP in January 2026, and data brokers will begin processing the delete requests in August 2026. Sign up for our mailing lists or follow us on social media to stay current with updates.

Right to Equal Treatment

Finally, the right to equal treatment under the CCPA means that businesses cannot discriminate against you for exercising any of the privacy rights mentioned in this blog series. That means businesses cannot retaliate by denying goods and services to you, providing a different quality of service to you, or charging you a different price.

Exercise Your Rights

Remember that you are empowered to exercise your California privacy rights, the strongest consumer privacy rights in the United States. After reading this blog series, you now have the tools to Limit the use of your sensitive personal information, Opt-out of the sale and sharing of your personal information, Correct inaccurate information businesses have about you, Know what information businesses have collected about you, and Delete the information businesses have collected from you.

If a business violates your right to Equal treatment by discriminating against you for exercising your rights, or if they violate one of your other privacy rights, submit a complaint with CalPrivacy.