California Battles Data Brokers: Is a Deletion Portal Enough to Stop Profiting from Your Health Records?
California enacted mechanisms allowing residents to demand data deletion from over 500 brokers via a specific portal. Moreover, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) already took action against Datamasters for illegally reselling health and personal data without proper broker registration.
Commenters are sharply divided on effectiveness. Some cheer the legislative steps, calling them necessary progress. However, users like SARGE argue fines are just a 'cost of doing business' for mega-corporations. Others, like Telorand, demand the Attorney General must push for bankruptcies, not just fines. There is also acknowledgement that some brokers may simply ignore compliance until the August 2026 deadline.
The consensus points to legal action being insufficient on its own. The real efficacy rests entirely on the aggressive enforcement—specifically whether the Attorney General pursues existential threats beyond simple financial penalties. The threat of outright insolvency, not just a fine, is what skeptics demand.
Key Points
CalPrivacy has already fined/taken action against Datamasters for unauthorized health data reselling.
BrikoX noted CalPrivacy action against Datamasters for selling health data.
California residents have a free portal to demand deletion from hundreds of brokers.
adhd_traco provided the specific portal link (consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov).
Fines levied by the state will not stop large data brokers.
SARGE argues fines are merely a predictable 'cost of doing business.'
The law needs bankruptcy threats, not just monetary penalties.
Telorand insists the AG must escalate fines into cases leading to company dissolution.
Data selling breaches fundamental US 4th Amendment rights.
FineCoatMummy argued data brokers bypass constitutional protections against warrantless searches.
Compliance is not immediate; brokers have until August 2026.
errer correctly noted that the deletion mandate is not enforceable until that date.
Source Discussions (3)
This report was synthesized from the following Lemmy discussions, ranked by community score.