California residents can now harness a new power to protect their data and halt data brokers from selling personal info online.  “Scammers can buy this information. Stalkers can buy this information. ICE can buy this information,” Peninsula State Senator Josh Becker said. “We have a privac y crisis.”  Becker led the charge to change state law and create DROP, California’s new “Delete Request and Optout Platform.” Becker called DROP a “one-stop shop.” He said, “you put your information in once and you delete your information from over 500 data brokers.” California Jan 15 Californians have a new privacy tool for deleting their data nbc bay area responds Jan 26 Nonna Homes: Big ADU builder stops building, state license now suspended   DROP just debuted January 1st. More than 200,000 Californians have already signed up, the state said.  “It’s the first and only of its kind in the nation,” said Tom Kemp, who is overseeing DROP and the privacy agency that’s running it, California Consumer Privacy Act, AKA Cal Privacy. “[DROP] really brings power back to the people to control the usage of their personal information.”   In an interview with NBC Bay Area, Kemp explained how DROP works. He said as early as today, you can share with the state info about yourself — like your phone numbers, email address, zip codes, and such. “Then, starting in August of 2026, data brokers will have to match that encrypted information in their systems and start deleting it,” Kemp said.   Companies that don’t comply face fines of $200 per day, per records, Kemp said. He said you’ll likely reduce spam calls, texts, and emails if you enroll in drop and tell the data brokers to purge your personal info.  “It’s incredibly powerful. It takes just a couple of minutes,” Kemp said.  It took just eight minutes for me to enroll when I recently tried DROP. You can check it out here: privacy.ca.gov/drop. ...read more read less