1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

California's DELETE Act and DROP platform are only as strong as the enforcement behind them. Right now, data brokers are doing the math and choosing to ignore the law. Stanford University researchers found fewer than 1 in 10 registered data brokers fully complied with California Consumer Privacy Act transparency requirements. That's not a compliance problem — that's a calculation that fines are cheaper than following the rules. The $200-per-day penalty structure needs to be applied aggressively and consistently. CalPrivacy's own executive director acknowledged that a company failing to delete 200,000 DROP users' data could face $40 million per day in penalties. Use that authority. The current fines of $30,000 to $60,000 against noncompliant brokers are pocket change to companies selling Social Security numbers, real-time location data, and reproductive health information to anyone willing to pay — including scammers and federal immigration agencies. 520,000 Californians have signed up for DROP because they want their data protected. Make sure the law delivers on that promise. Direct CalPrivacy's enforcement strike force to prioritize the brokers identified in the Stanford report, escalate penalties for repeat violations, and make clear that noncompliance is no longer a viable business strategy.