privacy.ca

Data Brokers Exposed. They’re changing their ways. Opt-out List. If you haven't done so, do a google search on your own name, and see what information shows up about you on the web. All those "people search" websites are a boon for scammers and unscrupulous companies that take advantage of seniors, vulnerable people, and well... just about everybody. The article above includes a list of links for data broker pages that were difficult to opt-out of before this action, and that also work for non-Californians. But if you are in California, take this step too: DROP = Delete Request and Opt-out Platform [https://privacy.ca.gov/drop/](https://privacy.ca.gov/drop/) For Californians who have not yet done so, use the state government's DROP program to have the state itself handle opt-out requests for you with for the 575 data brokers currently registered with the program. California residents can submit a single automated request to have their personal information deleted and removed from the databases of all these registered brokers. What this means is that Californians don't have to pay for a service to remove most of their personal data from the web. I mod a subreddit for senior citizens in my community (r/SacSeniors) and we're hoping to do a weekly post on privacy and identity protection. Let us know if you have ideas for the outreach. We'll post here too if appropriate and mods allow.