Erasing your digital footprint could become a lot easier by 2026.

California lawmakers

on Thursday

passed a bill known as the Delete Act that gives consumers the option

with a single request,

Unpleasant

to have

every data broker deletes its personal data. Data brokers include a variety of companies that collect and sell people’s personal information, such as their address, marital status and spending habits.

These companies include

credit reporting agencies, people search sites and data analytics companies that work with political campaigns.

The Senate approved the legislation Thursday, a day after it was passed by the General Assembly. The bill heads to the governor’s desk for consideration.

Under Senate Bill 362, the California Privacy Protection Agency has passed

January

2026 would create a way for consumers to do that

ask them that

records

are

deleted

through a single request

So there are about 500 data brokers registered in California

reach out

for any broker can be time consuming.

At the moment it is not always clear what

information

consumer data that companies have or share. Companies can also refuse or not respond to takedown requests.

The passage of SB 362 builds on a sweeping data privacy law that lawmakers passed in 2018 with the California Consumer Privacy Act, which gave consumers the right to ask companies to delete their personal data, but through a cumbersome process.

Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) said on the Senate floor that the bill would allow consumers to have sensitive information from data brokers, including about reproductive health care and geolocation, deleted. “This bill will help Californians effectively exercise the right to delete their information from data brokers and protect our right to privacy,” Becker said.

The California

office of the attorney general

sent a letter to Becker on Tuesday expressing his support for the bill. In the letter, the agency said the right to delete companies’ information is limited to data collected from consumers. Data brokers may not always collect data directly from consumers, creating a “loophole” in California privacy laws.

Companies, including advertisers, lobbied aggressively against the legislation, claiming it would destroy California’s data-driven economy. Companies use data to serve people personalized ads, and credit bureaus use personal information to verify people’s identities.

Dan Smith, president and CEO of the Consumer Data Industry

Assn.

said in a statement

That

the bill could have “unintended consequences.” The association represents credit bureaus and background check companies.

The bill undermines protections against consumer fraud, harms small businesses’ ability to compete, and solidifies the data dominance of large platforms,” Smith said. “It also gives third parties the ability to request deletion of consumer data without guardrails.”

The bill’s proponents say consumers would have more control online over their personal information, which data brokers often collect without their consent or knowledge. They also point to scenarios where people’s personal information could end up in the hands of scammers and other bad actors.

Amid opposition from businesses, Becker made changes to the bill. Consumers can exclude certain data brokers from their deletion request, and there are exceptions.

From August 2026

data brokers would be required to delete all consumer personal information at least once every 45 days. An earlier version of the bill gave data brokers 31 days to do this. They would also not be allowed to sell or share new personal information.

If a data broker denies a deletion request because it cannot verify it, the request is processed as an opt-out from the sale or sharing of the consumer’s personal information.