Reading time: 9 minutes
Published: December 31, 2025
Your financial life is more digital than ever. Paychecks, bills, investments, and even everyday purchases all leave a data trail. California’s Delete Act is a new privacy law with direct personal finance implications, because data misuse can affect your money, credit, and long-term security. That trail is incredibly valuable to companies you have never heard of, and in the wrong hands it can quietly chip away at your money, credit, and long-term security.
If you have ever wondered why you keep getting eerily specific ads or offers that feel a little too personal, you are already brushing up against the world of data brokers. In this post, we look at how a new California law, the Delete Act, aims to rein in that industry, why it matters for your personal finances, and what practical steps you can take to protect both your privacy and your wallet.
- Key Takeaways
- Why Data Privacy Is a Money Issue, Not Just a Tech Issue
- What the Bay Area News Group Reported About the Delete Act
- Disturbing Uses of Personal Data Highlighted in the Reporting
- What the California Delete Act Is Designed to Do
- How Data Misuse Translates Into Financial Harm
- Practical Steps to Protect Your Money and Credit
- Making Privacy Part of Your Financial Plan
- Are Other States Considering Similar Laws?
- Conclusion
Key Takeaways
- Your personal data directly affects your financial wellbeing, from scam risk to credit offers and rental decisions.
- California’s Delete Act aims to give consumers a single, practical way to force data brokers to delete and stop selling their information.
- When companies misuse your personal data, they can drive targeted misinformation and even affect housing outcomes that directly impact you.
- Using privacy rights alongside good security habits can help protect your money, credit, and long-term plans.
Why Data Privacy Is a Money Issue, Not Just a Tech Issue
Data privacy can sound abstract, like something for IT departments and lawyers. In reality, it is a core part of your personal finance strategy. Every time you swipe a card, apply for a loan, use a budgeting app, or log in to your brokerage account, you create data that companies collect, package, and sell.
That data can influence:
- What offers you see, including which credit cards, loans, or insurance products are marketed to you.
- How easy it is to scam you, because detailed profiles make fraud attempts more convincing.
- How others judge your risk, sometimes in opaque ways that affect housing, pricing, or access to opportunities.
What the Bay Area News Group Reported About the Delete Act
In his Bay Area News Group (BANG) article Data privacy spurs new law ↗, Ethan Baron examines how California’s new Delete Act targets the largely hidden world of data brokers. These companies collect and sell detailed information about people, including where they live, where they go, what they buy, and broad indicators of income or lifestyle. Most consumers never interact with these firms directly, yet the firms can hold surprisingly detailed profiles.
For Californians who want to take action starting on January 1, 2026, the state provides an official deletion request portal at privacy.ca.gov/drop ↗. This site explains how consumers can submit requests to delete personal information under California privacy laws and which types of businesses are required to respond.
Baron reports that lawmakers acted in response to growing concern about how this data is collected and used, especially when it leads to discrimination, manipulation, or safety risks. The Delete Act builds on earlier privacy laws but tries to solve a practical problem: instead of you to track down dozens or hundreds of brokers individually, the law aims to create a single mechanism to request deletion across the entire registered broker ecosystem.
Disturbing Uses of Personal Data Highlighted in the Reporting
One of the most troubling examples cited in Baron’s reporting involves data brokers selling location and related data about people who visited reproductive health clinics. That information then enabled companies to send targeted misinformation to those individuals. Raining Pennies is apolitical, and regardless of anyone’s personal beliefs or motivations, being tracked to this extent for any purpose crosses a line. A deeply personal and sensitive action became a data point that could be exploited for influence and persuasion, highlighting how easily privacy can be lost when personal data is treated as a commodity.
The BANG article also describes how brokered data has been used in housing decisions. In some cases, landlords relied on data profiles obtained through brokers that contributed to rejecting rental applicants. This can happen even when an applicant appears qualified based on income, credit history, and references, because some screening tools use unseen data points behind the scenes.
These examples underscore two realities that matter for your finances:
- Personal data can be used to influence or manipulate decisions with financial stakes, from healthcare choices to housing.
- Personal data can be used to evaluate your financial reliability in ways you may never see or be able to challenge.
What the California Delete Act Is Designed to Do
Based on Baron’s reporting, the Delete Act focuses on two main goals: giving consumers realistic control and making data broker activity more transparent.
A Centralized Way to Request Deletion
Before the Delete Act, consumers who wanted their data deleted had to identify brokers one-by-one and submit individual requests, each with its own process. The Delete Act directs California’s privacy regulators to create a centralized system where a single request can be sent to all registered data brokers.
Over time, this should allow consumers to say, through one official channel, “delete my personal data and stop selling it.” Brokers would be required not only to comply initially, but to continue honoring that request going forward.
Greater Accountability for Data Brokers
The law also increases oversight by requiring data brokers to register and comply with reporting and deletion rules. Brokers that ignore requests or misrepresent their practices can face penalties. For an industry that has operated mostly out of sight, this represents a meaningful shift.
Although the Delete Act is a California law, its effects may extend beyond the state. Large companies often standardize practices across jurisdictions, which means broader improvements in how personal data is handled.
How Data Misuse Translates Into Financial Harm
So, how does all of this turn into real financial damage? The connection becomes clearer when you look at how personal data is used by bad actors and automated systems.
More Effective Scams and Fraud
Detailed personal data makes scams more convincing. When a fraudster knows your address, age range, or which financial institutions you use, phishing emails, texts, and phone calls are harder for you to spot. This increases the odds that someone is tricked into sharing login credentials or one-time security codes.
Once access is gained, accounts can be drained, new credit can be opened, or funds can be moved in ways that are difficult to reverse. Reducing how widely your data circulates limits the raw material scammers rely on.
Identity Theft and Account Takeovers
Brokered data often includes information that can be used to reset passwords or impersonate you, such as past addresses or personal history. If that data leaks or is resold, it can enable account takeovers across banks, brokerages, and retirement accounts.
Recovering from identity theft can take months and can delay major financial milestones like buying a home or refinancing, while you dispute fraudulent activity and repair your credit.
Opaque Decisions That Affect Opportunity
As highlighted in Baron’s article, data broker profiles have already played a role in rental decisions. Similar data can feed into risk assessments used by lenders, insurers, or employers. These systems are often difficult to inspect or challenge, even when the data is outdated or misleading.
The result can be higher costs, lost opportunities, or reduced earning power, all driven by information you never knowingly shared.
Practical Steps to Protect Your Money and Credit
The Delete Act is one tool, but it works best alongside everyday security habits. As these protections roll out, consider a few practical actions.
Use Official Deletion and Opt-out Tools
Watch for announcements from California’s privacy regulators about the official Delete Act system. Avoid responding to unsolicited emails claiming to handle deletion on your behalf. When legitimate tools are available, use them, and combine that with opting out of data sharing directly with banks, credit card companies, and apps you use.
Strengthen Account Security
Privacy rights reduce your exposure, but strong security limits damage if something slips through. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on financial and email accounts, use unique passwords generated with tools like the Raining Pennies strong password generator, and review alerts so you are notified of logins and transfers.
Monitor Credit and Act Quickly
Regularly review your credit reports for unfamiliar accounts, inquiries, or address changes. If you see something wrong, dispute it immediately and consider a credit freeze if fraud is suspected.
Making Privacy Part of Your Financial Plan
Privacy does not have to be an overwhelming project. Treat it like other recurring financial maintenance. Once a year, review privacy settings on key accounts, check which apps have access to your data, and revisit opt-out or deletion tools that apply to you.
Just as you rebalance investments or adjust savings goals, you can adjust your privacy posture as laws and tools evolve. This quiet work reduces the risk of costly surprises and helps keep your financial plan on track.
Are Other States Considering Similar Laws?
While California’s Delete Act is the first of its kind, related privacy laws and data broker transparency efforts exist elsewhere and momentum is building:
- Several states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia, have enacted consumer privacy laws that give residents rights to access, delete, or limit the sale of personal data.
- Some states, such as Vermont and Oregon, already require data brokers to register with the state, increasing transparency around who is collecting and selling personal information.
- Other states have introduced or debated legislation focused on regulating data brokers more directly, signaling growing concern about how personal data is traded.
- Taken together, these efforts point to a broader national trend toward giving consumers more control over their data, even if no other state yet matches California’s centralized deletion approach.
Conclusion
Ethan Baron’s Bay Area News Group reporting on California’s Delete Act highlights a financial risk most people rarely see: the trade in personal data and its real-world consequences. By creating a centralized way to demand deletion and increasing oversight of data brokers, the law shifts some control back to you. Your role is to use that control, combine it with solid security habits, and treat privacy as a core part of your financial plan.
One final note on privacy here at Raining Pennies. This site does not track readers across the web, sell personal data, or build profiles about your behavior. The only personal information we collect is an email address if you voluntarily subscribe, and you are free to use your real name or a nickname when signing up. That information is used solely to deliver the content you asked for.