Your state's privacy rights
The 18 opt-outs on our list work in every state. Some states also give you a legal right to have a company delete your data. Here is what that means and where your state stands.
Checked November 10, 2026. Laws change often; if something here is out of date, tell us.
Where do you live?
California: use DROP first
California is the only state with a single request that reaches every registered data broker. Start with DROP, then work through your list.
Every other state
No other state has a live tool like DROP. Start your list and send each opt-out yourself. If your state has a privacy law (table below), you also have a legal right to ask a company to delete your data and to stop selling it. Three things to know about those laws:
- Public records are often excluded. Much of what people-search sites show comes from public records, which many of these laws leave out. A site can refuse a legal request even when its own opt-out form works, so use the forms on our list first.
- Size limits. Most of these laws cover only companies above a size or data-volume threshold. Texas and Nebraska have no such threshold: they cover every business except small businesses as defined by federal law.
- If a company ignores a request, you can complain to your state attorney general. Find your attorney general, then open their consumer or privacy complaint page.
States with a privacy law
Each of these 23 laws gives residents a right to delete personal data and to opt out of its sale. 19 are in effect today.
| State | Law | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Alabama Personal Data Protection Act | Starts May 1, 2027 |
| California | California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) | In effect since January 1, 2023 |
| Colorado | Colorado Privacy Act | In effect since July 1, 2023 |
| Connecticut | Connecticut Data Privacy Act | In effect since July 1, 2023 |
| Delaware | Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act | In effect since January 1, 2025 |
| Indiana | Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act | In effect since January 1, 2026 |
| Iowa | Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act | In effect since January 1, 2025 |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act | In effect since January 1, 2026 |
| Louisiana | Louisiana Data Privacy Act | Starts January 1, 2027 |
| Maryland | Maryland Online Data Privacy Act | In effect since October 1, 2025 |
| Minnesota | Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act | In effect since July 31, 2025 |
| Montana | Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act | In effect since October 1, 2024 |
| Nebraska | Nebraska Data Privacy Act | In effect since January 1, 2025 |
| New Hampshire | New Hampshire Expectation of Privacy Act | In effect since January 1, 2025 |
| New Jersey | New Jersey Data Privacy Act | In effect since January 15, 2025 |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma Act Relating to Data Privacy | Starts January 1, 2027 |
| Oregon | Oregon Consumer Privacy Act | In effect since July 1, 2024 |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act | In effect since January 1, 2026 |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Information Protection Act | In effect since July 1, 2025 |
| Texas | Texas Data Privacy and Security Act | In effect since July 1, 2024 |
| Utah | Utah Consumer Privacy Act | In effect since December 31, 2023 |
| Vermont | Vermont Data Privacy and Online Surveillance Act | Starts January 1, 2028 |
| Virginia | Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act | In effect since January 1, 2023 |
The Florida Digital Bill of Rights applies only to a few very large businesses, so it rarely reaches people-search sites. The other states have no comprehensive privacy law, so the site-by-site opt-outs are your route.
Data broker registries
California, Texas, Oregon and Vermont make data brokers register publicly, and Connecticut and New Jersey passed registry laws in 2026. Registries show who the brokers are, but outside California they don't delete anything for you. Connecticut has been told to build a DROP-style deletion tool by 2028, and Vermont is studying one. When another state launches a tool like DROP, we'll add it here.
Start your list with the 18 sites, in order.
Sources
- Mayer Brown: state privacy law tracker (law names and effective dates)
- MultiState: twenty-four states now have comprehensive privacy laws (October 2026)
- EPIC: data broker registries and DROP
- MyDataAudit: data broker laws by state
- Davis Wright Tremaine: Nebraska's law, like Texas's, has no revenue or volume threshold