It’s easier for Californians to escape data brokers following a Markup investigation – The Markup
It’s easier for Californians to escape data brokers following a Markup investigation – The Markup
Publish Date: 2026-05-22 04:00:00
Source Domain: themarkup.org
The Markup, now a part of CalMatters, uses investigative reporting, data analysis, and software engineering to challenge technology to serve the public good. Sign up for Klaxon, a newsletter that delivers our stories and tools directly to your inbox.
More data brokers have changed their practices in response to reporting from The Markup and CalMatters as well as a subsequent Senate investigation.
Data brokers — companies that collect and sell access to often-sensitive information on consumers — are required to register in the state of California and provide a way for consumers to request their data be deleted.
Privacy
We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online
Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found. After our reporters reached out for comment, multiple companies have stopped the practice.
August 12, 2025 8:30 a.m. UTC
Last year, an investigation by The Markup and CalMatters, published in collaboration with WIRED, showed that many of those companies placed code on the web pages for making those requests that prevented them from appearing in search results. The “no-index” code tells search engines like Google not to catalog those pages, making it less likely that anyone would see them. Experts said that’s a hurdle for Californians looking to exercise their legal rights.
Last year’s investigation found 35 data brokers were using the code, 12 of whom soon removed it and allowed their pages to appear in search results.
Today, only eight of those 35 brokers are still hiding their deletion pages, according to another review done by The Markup and CalMatters this week. That includes five major data brokers who came under Senate investigation.
After The…
