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The UC Irvine team contacted every data broker registered in California during a roughly seven-month period spanning late 2024 and early 2025. Its study, “Consumer Beware! Exploring Data Brokers’ CCPA Compliance,” examined how companies handled verifiable consumer-rights requests under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
CyberScoop reported that 40% of the 543 companies contacted failed to respond. UC Irvine summaries reported a 43% nonresponse rate, meaning only 57% responded. Those figures should be presented together rather than treated as competing discoveries: the difference likely reflects rounding, coding, or different stages of analysis. Either way, the denominator is clear—hundreds of registered brokers did not provide a response during the test.
What the UC Irvine study actually tested
The researchers approached all 543 companies listed on California’s official registry, rather than selecting a small sample. The study evaluated six parts of the consumer-request experience:
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- the effort required to submit a request;
- identity-verification practices;
- how quickly a company responded;
- the quality and completeness of its response;
- additional personal information requested from the consumer; and
- other privacy and security concerns.
The university said brokers were expected to acknowledge a request within 10 business days and answer within 45 calendar days under the CCPA framework. The experiment involved requests for information about personal data, while the broader research examined access and deletion compliance. Access, deletion, sale opt-outs and targeted-advertising opt-outs are separate legal requests, so a headline about “user requests” should not be read as saying that every company was tested only with deletion requests.
The researchers’ controlled requests show how the process worked under test conditions. They do not establish that every California resident would receive the same result, that every broker possessed the researchers’ information, or that the companies’ underlying data was accurate.
What “failed to respond” means—and what it does not
A nonresponse means the researchers received no reply after submitting a request through the available channel. It is evidence of an observed failure to communicate, not proof of a particular motive or legal conclusion.
A no-response case does not, by itself, prove that a broker:
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- had the requester’s personal information;
- intentionally concealed data;
- rejected a deletion request;
- was still actively operating, rather than remaining on a registry while inactive;
- could successfully match the information supplied; or
- would treat every other California resident in the same way.
Those distinctions matter. A delayed reply, an identity-verification failure, a denial based on an exemption, an incomplete answer and total silence are different outcomes with different legal and practical implications. The UC Irvine findings establish the pattern of nonresponse and inconsistent procedures; they do not assign the reason for every individual failure.
Why verification created a privacy paradox
Verification is legitimate in principle. A business should not disclose one person’s data to an attacker, and it should not delete another person’s record because someone else submitted a request. The CCPA therefore permits businesses to verify identity before providing or deleting information.
The problem identified by the study was the lack of a consistent, proportionate balance between verification and data minimization. A consumer contacts a data broker to reduce the information held about them, then may be asked to provide more identifying information to a company with which they have no direct relationship. That new information could create another record, be retained, or increase the risk of exposure.
CyberScoop found that brokers used different channels—including web forms, email and telephone calls—and imposed inconsistent identity checks. Some consumers could face additional steps or requests for information that were not obviously necessary to match an existing record. Such friction can discourage people from completing a request even when the underlying right exists.
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Access and deletion are different rights
An access request asks what personal information a business holds and, in some circumstances, how it was collected or disclosed. A deletion request asks the business to remove qualifying information. One does not automatically accomplish the other.
Depending on the facts and statutory exemptions, a broker might answer an access request but deny deletion, delete a consumer record while retaining exempt information, report that it cannot locate a matching record, or stop selling information while continuing to retain it. Information already shared with customers or other brokers may also persist outside the original company’s systems.
Why registration does not equal government approval
California’s registry identifies businesses that fall within the state’s statutory data-broker framework and must register. The registry is useful because it defines the population UC Irvine tested, but registration is not a certification that a company is trustworthy, accurate or compliant.
It does not establish that every registered company sells data about every person, that the state has approved its practices, or that every CCPA provision applies without an exemption. The 2026 registry covers businesses that operated as data brokers in 2025. Companies outside the statutory definition, covered by sector-specific exemptions, or operating through another entity may not appear in the same way.
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Why the reported percentages differ
| Source | Reported result | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| CyberScoop | 40% of 543 companies failed to respond | Approximately 217 companies at that rate |
| UC Irvine ProperData summary | 43% nonresponse, or 57% responding | Approximately 233 companies at that rate |
The article and the underlying paper should be consulted for the precise dataset and coding rules. The defensible conclusion does not depend on false precision: a substantial minority of the entire registered population did not respond in the study period.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.California’s current response: the DROP system
California has since centralized the submission process through the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP), created under the California Delete Act (SB 362) and its implementing regulations.
- California residents could begin submitting requests on January 1, 2026.
- Data brokers began processing DROP requests on August 1, 2026.
- Brokers must access the system at least once every 45 calendar days.
- California’s consumer guidance says covered data must generally be deleted within 90 days, subject to processing rules and statutory exceptions.
DROP sends one request to all active California-registered data brokers covered by the system. It removes the need to find and contact hundreds of companies individually, but it does not eliminate every verification step. Residents must establish California residency and provide enough information for a broker to match the correct record.
The timeline is not instantaneous. A request submitted after August 1 enters a recurring broker-access and matching process, and exceptions can apply. The relevant deadline is therefore the statutory processing framework, not the moment a consumer presses “submit.” Details for consumers are available from the California Privacy Protection Agency; broker obligations are described at privacy.ca.gov/drop-for-data-brokers and in the processing requirements.
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What DROP cannot remove
DROP is a major administrative improvement, not a universal deletion switch. It addresses qualifying personal information held by covered data brokers. It does not guarantee removal from:
- public records;
- a company with which the consumer has a direct relationship;
- credit-reporting or other regulated databases;
- data protected by a statutory or sectoral exemption;
- unregistered entities or intermediaries outside the system;
- copies already sold or shared with downstream recipients; or
- information collected again in the future.
California’s centralized process also cannot establish that every record about a person is inaccurate or that every broker has data on that person.
What California residents should do now
- Use the official platform. Start at consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov, rather than relying on an unverified third-party form.
- Provide only what is necessary. Use the minimum information the official process accepts for residency and record matching. Do not send sensitive identity documents unless they are required and the channel is secure.
- Save proof. Keep the submission date, confirmation number, screenshots and confirmation emails.
- Wait through the applicable cycle. Brokers’ 45-day access obligation and the consumer-facing 90-day deletion language mean that immediate disappearance is not the expected result.
- Check the outcome. Review the platform’s status information and any broker response after the relevant period.
- Document failures. If a covered broker does not process the request or provides an inadequate response, retain the evidence and consider filing a complaint with the California Privacy Protection Agency.
Why the study should not be generalized nationwide
UC Irvine tested all companies registered in California at the time, not every data broker in the United States. Registration rules, exemptions, request deadlines and enforcement differ across states. CyberScoop noted that brokers’ registration and disclosure practices may vary across state lines.
The findings therefore support a California-specific conclusion: a large share of registered brokers did not respond in this test, and many of those that did respond used inconsistent channels and verification demands. They do not prove that every broker nationwide behaves the same way, that every nonresponse was intentional, or that every privacy request would fail.
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What remains unresolved after centralization
DROP directly targets the administrative burden exposed by the UC Irvine study. The harder accountability question is whether a simpler submission process produces reliable matching, deletion and follow-through. Consumers and regulators still need to distinguish silence from a lawful denial, track statutory exceptions, and determine whether information reappears through another broker or downstream recipient.
California has made it easier to ask for deletion. The effectiveness of the reform will depend on what happens after the request is submitted: whether brokers respond consistently, delete the covered data on time, explain exceptions clearly and face consequences when they do not.
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