Author: Maureen Mahoney
Published: Jan 15, 2026
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed trying to protect your information online, clicking through endless privacy links and navigating complex procedures, there is a new law for you.
In 2025, Governor Newsom signed a groundbreaking law that will help make protecting your privacy online dramatically easier for Californians. The California Opt Me Out Act (AB 566, Lowenthal), sponsored by the California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy), is the first law in the nation to require web browsers to include a built-in feature that lets you tell all websites you visit not to sell or share your personal information with a single option.
How the Law Works
The California Opt Me Out Act requires browser companies to offer “opt-out preference signals,” or “OOPS” for short. When turned on in the web browser that you use to search or pull up specific pages on the internet, it automatically tells every website you visit that you don’t want them to sell or share your personal information. Instead of having to opt-out individually at hundreds of websites, you turn on one option in your browser settings, and you’re protected everywhere. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), businesses are required to honor those signals.
Why it Matters
The data being collected, sold, and shared by businesses can include some of your most sensitive information, such as health details, political views, religious beliefs, immigration status, race or ethnic identity, and even your browsing history. Without easy-to-use opt-out tools, your data can be sold and resold in ways you may not expect, leaving your information available to data brokers, advertisers, and potentially even criminals.
Right now, even though Californians have a legal right to opt-out of having their data sold, it can be exhausting to exercise that right. Without an opt-out preference signal, you must visit websites individually and navigate complex procedures. The California Opt Me Out Act minimizes the time and effort you must put into protecting your privacy by making OOPS easily available.
When OOPS Will Be Required
No later than January 1, 2027, all web browsers, whether accessed on a desktop or mobile device, must include OOPS.
How to Enable OOPS Today
However, you don’t have to wait until 2027 to start protecting your privacy — some browsers support OOPS now. If your browser does, you can:
- Look for the browser’s “Settings” menu.
- In the Settings, look for privacy and security settings.
- In the privacy and security settings, look for a selection that lets you restrict the sale and sharing of your data.
- If the browser has that feature, you can enable it, if it is not already on.
Alternatively, there are browser plug-ins you can download and add into browsers that currently don’t offer OOPS. You can see if plug-ins are available for your browser:
- Look for the browser’s webstore or extensions library.
- Search for “Global Privacy Control” or “GPC.”
- Review the OOPS plug-ins that are available for your browser and check trusted reviews to determine the plug-in that will work best for you.
- Select the option to download or add the extension to your browser.
- Follow instructions in the plug-in to ensure the setting is turned on.
Additionally, the Global Privacy Control, an example of an opt-out preference signal, offers suggestions of browsers and extensions you can choose from.
The Bottom Line
CalPrivacy is taking steps to make privacy easier for everyone. Thanks to the California Opt Me Out Act, simple privacy tools will soon be available in all web browsers giving Californians the ability to request that all websites they visit stop the sale and sharing of their information with one easy option.
Similarly, as we recently highlighted, the Delete Act empowers California residents to delete their personal information from hundreds of data brokers in a single request by using the new Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) that CalPrivacy launched on January 1, 2026. Data brokers will begin accessing the system to delete data by August 1, 2026.
Together these tools are a powerful package you can use to protect your personal information at scale.