GoKawiilIf you've ever wondered how much of your personal information is collected every time you go online, California is giving consumers a new way to push back.
Starting Aug. 1, registered California data brokers must begin honoring requests submitted through the state's Delete Request Opt-out Platform, better known as DROP.
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The online tool allows California residents to ask registered data brokers to stop selling their personal information without having to contact hundreds of companies individually.
Since Jan. 1, about 350,000 Californians have already signed up through the DROP website.
Every time someone shops online, streams entertainment, or simply browses the internet, pieces of that person's digital footprint can be collected, packaged and sold.
"In the digital economy, our personal information is basically oil," Tom Kemp with Cal Privacy said.
Kemp said many consumers don't realize just how much information is collected whenever they go online.
"We oftentimes are the product, our information, our data is the product that people collect, package up into digital dossiers and sell," Kemp said.
He said that information has long been used for targeted advertising.
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