John Gilmore knows how difficult it is for people to remove their personal information from the Internet

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even in California, where consumers have privacy rights.

It’s a very labor-intensive process, says Gilmore, chief of research at DeleteMe, a company that pays people to remove their information from websites. The average person has no way of understanding whether the efforts he puts in help or not.

California led the way when it passed a digital privacy law in 2018, but one of the protections the country offered proved difficult for people to use. While the law gives Californians the right to ask companies to delete their personal information, this law requires that the request be made one at a time to potentially hundreds of companies. That has made it difficult for people to erase their digital footprints, especially as the law has exceptions that allow companies to deny a deletion request.

Legislation under consideration in Sacramento would make it easier by allowing consumers to make just one request to get any data broker to remove their personal information. Like so many technology policy battles in the Capitol, this has sparked a debate between consumer groups and privacy advocates who argue that Californians deserve more control over their information online, and that tech companies and other large corporations who argue that the modern economy is built on the flow of data to personalize advertisements and other services.

Data brokers collect and sell people’s personal information, including their address, age, marital status, and occupation. These companies include well-known credit reporting companies such as Equifax and Experian, along with people search websites Spokeo and the Whitepages. But there are hundreds of data brokers that consumers may not have heard of, including those who work with political campaigns, law enforcement, marketers, and small businesses. About 500 data brokers are registered in California.

There are a lot of risks involved in spreading our information that people are just not aware of, said Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), who wrote Senate Bill 362 to give consumers the option to make one request to allow any data broker to to get their personal data deleted. It’s about giving people control over their personal data.

The bill, known as the Delete Act, will be voted critically next Friday as a variety of corporate groups, whose members include tech companies, advertisers, political consultants and credit unions, work to destroy it.

Proponents say personal data is collected and sold by data brokers, including about people’s location

could be used against abortion seekers, undocumented immigrants and activists. Those opposed to SB 362 say there are benefits to collecting data, too: it helps businesses serve more relevant ads, helps law enforcement solve crimes, academics conduct research, and nonprofits collect donations.

“California consumers will be faced with this mechanism to delete all of their data and we fear they won’t fully realize what all of that means,” said Chris Oswald, executive vice president and head of government relations for the U.S. government.

Association Assn.

from national advertisers.

The consumer data industry

Association Assn.

, which represents credit bureaus and background check companies, said the bill would make it more difficult for companies to quickly verify consumers’ identities. The group launched a website with 15 reasons why companies oppose the bill.

“In order for consumers to freely access the Internet and make purchases and transactions, this must happen immediately,” said Dan Smith, president and CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Assn.

Under the law, consumers can exclude certain data brokers from their takedown request. Data brokers should delete a consumer’s personal data at least once every 31 days. They too would be excluded

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of sales

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or sharing new personal information about the consumer.

Data brokers collect data from a variety of sources, including public records such as voter registration and social media posts. They also buy data from retailers and credit card providers who know a lot about their customers’ spending habits.

Gilmore said some DeleteMe consumers in California have complained that data brokers are not responding to requests to delete their data. Companies can also drag the process on for weeks as they try to verify who is making the takedown request. Some of their customers want their data deleted because they’ve seen firsthand how their personal data can be misused, including for identity theft, stalking and harassment, he said.

The bill would make it easier for companies like DeleteMe to remove people’s personal information from data brokerage websites while encouraging people to become more actively involved in their privacy, he said. DeleteMe supports the legislation. One step consumers can take, Gilmore says, is to limit the amount of information they provide to companies.

Lawmakers have tried to regulate data brokers before, but have been unsuccessful amid stiff opposition from industry groups. Last year, a federal bill that allowed people to remove personal information from data brokers with one request died, but lawmakers revived similar legislation in January. Becker also introduced a state law last year requiring data brokers to disclose more information when they register in California, including whether their data has been compromised or if data has been collected from minors. It died in committee.

Proponents of SB 362, including the bill’s sponsor, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, say opponents’ concerns are overblown and that California would set an example to the US and the rest of the world if it passed the legislation.

“It will certainly be an uphill battle, but we are optimistic,” said Emory Roane, policy advisor at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. “We think there’s a real chance this will cross the line and end up on the governor’s desk.”