{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"startTime":0.192,"endTime":3.886,"body":"The delete button the data brokers didn't want. Welcome"},{"startTime":3.886,"endTime":7.645,"body":"back, tech enthusiasts. I'm your host, Greg Doig. There's a company in"},{"startTime":7.645,"endTime":11.484,"body":"Texas you may not have heard about called DataMasters,"},{"startTime":11.757,"endTime":15.531,"body":"or maybe you have. Anyways, until California caught"},{"startTime":15.531,"endTime":19.257,"body":"up with them, one of the things they sold was lists of people with"},{"startTime":19.37,"endTime":22.807,"body":"Alzheimer's disease. Not a hypothetical. Names,"},{"startTime":22.903,"endTime":25.955,"body":"addresses, phone numbers, emails, millions of people."},{"startTime":26.516,"endTime":30.361,"body":"People with Alzheimer's, people with drug addiction. They also"},{"startTime":30.442,"endTime":34.079,"body":"offered senior lists, Hispanic lists, lists of"},{"startTime":34.143,"endTime":37.748,"body":"people by their political views, by what they bought at the grocery"},{"startTime":37.748,"endTime":41.321,"body":"store, by their banking activity. In January,"},{"startTime":41.417,"endTime":43.644,"body":"California's privacy agency fined them"},{"startTime":43.756,"endTime":47.442,"body":"$45,000 and ordered them out of the state's market"},{"startTime":47.442,"endTime":51.223,"body":"entirely. The head of the enforcement, Michael Mackow,"},{"startTime":51.447,"endTime":54.299,"body":"put it about as plainly as a regulator ever has."},{"startTime":55.134,"endTime":58.766,"body":"Reselling lists of people battling Alzheimer's disease is a"},{"startTime":58.894,"endTime":62.686,"body":"recipe for trouble. History teaches us that certain types of"},{"startTime":62.686,"endTime":66.077,"body":"lists can be dangerous. Here's why I'm telling you this today."},{"startTime":66.929,"endTime":70.496,"body":"As of August 1st, there is, for the first time anywhere in America,"},{"startTime":70.962,"endTime":74.561,"body":"a delete button for this entire industry. One free,"},{"startTime":74.642,"endTime":78.482,"body":"legally binding request that forces more than 500 data brokers"},{"startTime":78.53,"endTime":82.353,"body":"to erase what they have on you. And keep erasing it. The"},{"startTime":82.353,"endTime":85.933,"body":"catch? It only works if you live in California for now. I"},{"startTime":85.981,"endTime":89.674,"body":"don't. Most of the people listening probably don't. But today,"},{"startTime":89.915,"endTime":93.608,"body":"how the delete button works, whether it'll actually stick, and"},{"startTime":93.608,"endTime":97.349,"body":"what the rest of us can do instead, including the one approach"},{"startTime":97.381,"endTime":100.238,"body":"Consumer Reports found actually beats the paid services."},{"startTime":101.314,"endTime":104.943,"body":"Let me tell you a story you've probably lived. You Google yourself,"},{"startTime":105.408,"endTime":109.101,"body":"you find your address, your age, your relatives on some people search site."},{"startTime":109.806,"endTime":113.155,"body":"You dig up their opt-out page. It's buried way down at the bottom"},{"startTime":113.251,"endTime":116.632,"body":"somewhere. And it wants your email, maybe a photo ID."},{"startTime":117.177,"endTime":120.67,"body":"You do it. It works. 3 months later, you're back on the site, new"},{"startTime":120.783,"endTime":124.372,"body":"listing rebuilt from public records and data bought from other brokers."},{"startTime":125.061,"endTime":128.859,"body":"So you consider paying someone like DeleteMe or Incogni,"},{"startTime":128.891,"endTime":132.256,"body":"which are subscription services. And it feels like a"},{"startTime":132.256,"endTime":135.877,"body":"whack-a-mole. The natural question, does paying even work?"},{"startTime":136.647,"endTime":140.386,"body":"Consumer Reports actually tested this. In 2024,"},{"startTime":140.515,"endTime":144.254,"body":"they ran Data Defense, tracking 13 paid removal services"},{"startTime":144.848,"endTime":148.476,"body":"across 32 real volunteers for 4 months. Their"},{"startTime":148.54,"endTime":152.36,"body":"verdict? Largely ineffective. Even when removals"},{"startTime":152.392,"endTime":156.051,"body":"happened, the listings came back more than half the time because"},{"startTime":156.148,"endTime":159.871,"body":"brokers rebuild from public records breaches and buying from"},{"startTime":159.919,"endTime":163.593,"body":"each other. And here's the kicker. Doing it yourself beat every"},{"startTime":163.705,"endTime":167.474,"body":"paid service they tested. That's the game. You delete,"},{"startTime":167.634,"endTime":171.242,"body":"they rebuild forever. Which is exactly why what"},{"startTime":171.306,"endTime":175.155,"body":"California switched on is different. Because for the first time, the"},{"startTime":175.171,"endTime":178.539,"body":"rebuilding part is what's illegal. As of August 1st,"},{"startTime":178.603,"endTime":182.082,"body":"Californians can make one free legally binding request"},{"startTime":182.387,"endTime":186.011,"body":"that forces 500+ data brokers to delete their data"},{"startTime":186.476,"endTime":190.148,"body":"and keep deleting it every 45 days. Almost nobody's"},{"startTime":190.148,"endTime":192.537,"body":"using it yet. Here's what it is."},{"startTime":193.531,"endTime":197.346,"body":"California's DELETE Act created DROP, the Delete"},{"startTime":197.378,"endTime":200.809,"body":"Request and Opt-Out Platform, run by the state"},{"startTime":200.809,"endTime":204.368,"body":"privacy agency, CalPrivacy. It's been live"},{"startTime":204.368,"endTime":207.686,"body":"since January. Brokers were legally required to start"},{"startTime":207.718,"endTime":211.422,"body":"processing on August 1st. Here's how it works in 3"},{"startTime":211.422,"endTime":215.093,"body":"steps. First, prove you're a Californian. Through the"},{"startTime":215.093,"endTime":218.924,"body":"state's identity gateway or Login.gov. It takes"},{"startTime":218.924,"endTime":222.643,"body":"minutes. The verification info isn't kept. Second, fill"},{"startTime":222.691,"endTime":225.704,"body":"out a short profile. You choose how much to share."},{"startTime":226.474,"endTime":230.225,"body":"More identifiers, better matching. Third, submit. One"},{"startTime":230.225,"endTime":233.928,"body":"request goes to more than 500 registered brokers. You can"},{"startTime":233.928,"endTime":237.214,"body":"even file for your kid or an elderly parent, and it's free."},{"startTime":238.015,"endTime":241.205,"body":"The state's line is, we will never charge you to use DROP."},{"startTime":241.944,"endTime":245.541,"body":"Timeline? Honestly, brokers have to check the list at least every"},{"startTime":245.622,"endTime":249.171,"body":"45 days and finish deleting within 90. So"},{"startTime":249.235,"endTime":252.415,"body":"figure 3 to 4 and a half months before you're actually out."},{"startTime":252.785,"endTime":256.462,"body":"Slower than the brochure, but here's the part that matters. It"},{"startTime":256.462,"endTime":260.076,"body":"repeats. Every 45 days, brokers have to delete"},{"startTime":260.092,"endTime":263.673,"body":"whatever new data they've collected on you since. That's the"},{"startTime":263.69,"endTime":267.4,"body":"state's own description. This is the answer to the rebuild"},{"startTime":267.4,"endTime":270.979,"body":"problem. The first mechanism that attacks the repopulation,"},{"startTime":271.092,"endTime":274.928,"body":"not just today's listing. And plainly, every removal"},{"startTime":275.024,"endTime":278.668,"body":"tool you've tried fights the last copy of your data. This one"},{"startTime":278.78,"endTime":282.536,"body":"fights the next copy. Of course, a law is only as real as"},{"startTime":282.648,"endTime":285.874,"body":"its enforcement. So does anyone actually get punished?"},{"startTime":286.244,"endTime":289.855,"body":"Turns out already, yes. Remember Data Masters? That"},{"startTime":289.855,"endTime":293.643,"body":"wasn't a courtesy warning. $45,000 and ordered to"},{"startTime":293.643,"endTime":297.061,"body":"stop selling Californians' data entirely. Same"},{"startTime":297.157,"endTime":300.762,"body":"enforcement round, S\u0026P Global— yes, that S\u0026P—"},{"startTime":301.403,"endTime":305.249,"body":"was fined $62,600 for failing to register"},{"startTime":305.265,"endTime":309.031,"body":"as a data broker. Their explanation? Administrative"},{"startTime":309.031,"endTime":312.829,"body":"error. The lesson? The registry sweep catches everyone,"},{"startTime":312.941,"endTime":316.514,"body":"household names included. CalPrivacy runs a dedicated"},{"startTime":316.562,"endTime":320.328,"body":"data broker enforcement strike force. More than 10 actions"},{"startTime":320.328,"endTime":323.63,"body":"against unregistered brokers so far, A broker that doesn't"},{"startTime":323.678,"endTime":327.415,"body":"register at all? $200 a day in fines plus back"},{"startTime":327.607,"endTime":331.424,"body":"fees. New disclosure rules this year also force brokers to"},{"startTime":331.472,"endTime":335.08,"body":"admit what they collect, down to whether they've shared your data with"},{"startTime":335.08,"endTime":338.721,"body":"foreign actors, law enforcement, or companies training generative"},{"startTime":338.833,"endTime":342.602,"body":"AI. As CalPrivacy's Executive Director Tom"},{"startTime":342.618,"endTime":346.354,"body":"Kemp put it, Californians have a clear way to push back and regain"},{"startTime":346.467,"endTime":349.45,"body":"control now that CalPrivacy's drop system is live."},{"startTime":350.381,"endTime":354.009,"body":"I highly recommend that you sign up for DROP, said Tom Kemp."},{"startTime":354.876,"endTime":358.103,"body":"And this is great advice for the small slice of the country it applies to."},{"startTime":358.729,"endTime":362.518,"body":"Full disclosure, again, I'm not a California resident. I went looking for the"},{"startTime":362.518,"endTime":366.017,"body":"workaround. There isn't one right now. Residency is"},{"startTime":366.049,"endTime":369.822,"body":"verified at signup. This tool is real and it is fenced. The"},{"startTime":369.822,"endTime":373.61,"body":"interesting fight of the next 2 years is which state copies it first"},{"startTime":373.996,"endTime":377.832,"body":"and whether Congress keeps ignoring the fact that your protection currently depends"},{"startTime":377.832,"endTime":381.541,"body":"on your zip code. So does the delete button actually deliver?"},{"startTime":382.007,"endTime":385.041,"body":"And my best answer so far is nobody on earth knows yet."},{"startTime":385.635,"endTime":388.975,"body":"Enforcement started August 1st. Brokers get up to 90 days."},{"startTime":389.649,"endTime":393.31,"body":"The first completed deletions land around November. Anyone"},{"startTime":393.326,"endTime":396.923,"body":"claiming results today is guessing. For what filing feels"},{"startTime":397.019,"endTime":400.68,"body":"like right now, credit where it's due. LA Public Press published a"},{"startTime":400.728,"endTime":404.485,"body":"step-by-step walkthrough of the process, and EFF"},{"startTime":404.485,"endTime":408.273,"body":"has a solid explainer, both linked in the show notes. So"},{"startTime":408.273,"endTime":412.106,"body":"the promise from the top, you now know what the delete button is, one free"},{"startTime":412.122,"endTime":415.97,"body":"request to 500 brokers that re-deletes every 45 days for"},{"startTime":415.97,"endTime":419.177,"body":"Californians. And you know it has teeth, ask"},{"startTime":419.177,"endTime":422.865,"body":"DataMasters. You know the honest timeline, 3 to 4 and a half"},{"startTime":423.009,"endTime":426.697,"body":"months, first real results this November. And if you're"},{"startTime":426.697,"endTime":429.6,"body":"outside California, you know the Consumer Reports play,"},{"startTime":430.161,"endTime":433.913,"body":"DIY first. And if you pay, pay $20, not $200"},{"startTime":434.346,"endTime":437.657,"body":"or the best deal going at the time you look. If this"},{"startTime":437.769,"endTime":441.065,"body":"episode was useful, the best thing you can do is send it to one person"},{"startTime":441.065,"endTime":444.796,"body":"who's been paying for a removal service and they may want their money back."},{"startTime":445.6,"endTime":448.928,"body":"So once again, I'm Greg, this is Tech Brood, and we'll talk to you soon."}]}