Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has advocated for consumer privacy for over three decades. In collaboration with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, they systematically collected and analyzed registration data from five state data broker registries — California, Texas, Oregon, Vermont, and the California Privacy Protection Agency — and identified over 750 unique data broker groups operating across the country.
This database is publicly available at privacyrights.org/data-brokers. It is free to search. It consolidates broker registrations that were previously scattered across five separate state websites. And it is the foundation for understanding the scope of the data broker industry in the United States.
PRC also co-sponsored California's Delete Act in 2023, which created the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP) — a free, state-operated tool that lets California residents submit a single deletion request to every registered data broker in the state. DROP launched January 1, 2026, with brokers required to begin processing requests starting August 1, 2026.
This is important, foundational work. PRC identified the problem, quantified it, and helped create a legal framework to address it. Anyone researching data broker privacy should start with their database.
PRC's database is a reference tool. It tells you which companies are registered data brokers. It does not send deletion demands on your behalf. It does not track whether your data has been removed. It does not resubmit requests when brokers re-collect your information. And it does not cover the hundreds of data brokers that operate without registering in any state.
This is not a criticism of PRC — it is an acknowledgment that research and removal are two different functions. A map of every restaurant in a city does not feed you. PRC built the map. Removal services do the feeding.
Knowing that 750+ data brokers exist is valuable. But the practical question for most people is: how do I get my data deleted from all of them?
The manual approach requires visiting each broker's website, finding their opt-out process (which is different for every broker), submitting the request, verifying your identity (often through multi-step processes designed to discourage you), waiting for confirmation, and then checking back in 30-90 days because most brokers re-collect your data from public records and other sources on a continuous basis.
PRC estimates this manual process takes 100-200 hours for a comprehensive removal across all known brokers. And it is never finished — the cycle repeats every few months.
This is the gap that automated removal services fill. They handle the repetitive, ongoing submission process so that individual consumers do not have to treat data deletion as a part-time job.
PRC's 750+ figure represents unique data broker groups identified through state registration records. This is the most rigorous publicly available count — every entry traces to an official state filing. But it is a floor, not a ceiling, for three reasons.
First, only four states plus the California Privacy Protection Agency require data broker registration. Companies operating in the other 46 states face no registration obligation and therefore do not appear in any registry.
Second, compliance with registration requirements is inconsistent. PRC's own research found that hundreds of companies that appear to meet the legal definition of a data broker have not registered in states where they are required to do so.
Third, the data broker industry extends well beyond the companies that self-identify as data brokers. Advertising technology companies, marketing analytics firms, and consumer reporting agencies all collect, aggregate, and sell personal data. Many of these operate under different legal classifications and do not appear in data broker registries.
Independent research cataloging these broader categories has identified over 1,500 companies that collect and sell consumer personal data across people-search, marketing, B2B lead generation, financial, health, retail, vehicle telematics, and government surveillance categories.
1 Start with PRC's database. Visit privacyrights.org/data-brokers. Search for your state's registered brokers. Understand the scope of the problem. This is free and takes 10 minutes.
2 If you are a California resident, sign up for DROP. It is free, government-operated, and covers all registered California brokers. There is no reason not to use it.
3 Freeze your credit at all five bureaus. Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, Innovis, and LexisNexis. This is free and prevents anyone from opening accounts in your name. Takes 30 minutes.
4 Delete your mobile advertising ID. iPhone: Settings, Privacy, Tracking. Android: Settings, Privacy, Ads. This one step breaks the identifier that data brokers use to track your location across apps.
5 Decide whether to go manual or automated. If you have 100-200 hours and the patience to repeat the process every few months, you can submit opt-out requests to each broker individually. If you would rather have the process handled for you, an automated removal service handles the ongoing submissions, tracking, and resubmission cycle.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse identified the scope of the data broker problem with more rigor than any other organization. California's DROP portal provided the first government-operated solution for one state's residents. Automated removal services extend that protection to everyone else. These are layers of the same solution, not competing products. Use as many of them as apply to your situation.
PRC identified 750+ data broker groups. DROP covers roughly 500 registered California brokers. The best automated removal services cover 100 to 1,500+ brokers. Even the most comprehensive combination of all three tools does not cover every company that holds your personal data.
This is not a failure of any individual tool. It is a reflection of an industry that has grown faster than any regulatory framework or consumer tool can track. There are more companies collecting your data today than there were yesterday, and there will be more tomorrow.
The practical conclusion: no single tool solves the entire problem. The best approach is to combine free tools (PRC database, DROP, credit freezes, advertising ID deletion) with ongoing automated removal for the broadest possible coverage. Perfect privacy is not achievable in a connected world. Meaningfully reduced exposure is.
PRC identified 750+ data brokers. We send legal CCPA deletion demands to 1,505 of them — including surveillance contractors, car manufacturers, and smart TV trackers that no registry covers. Continuous 45-day resubmission. Dashboard tracking of every response. $9.95/month.
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Vigilant Privacy respects and acknowledges the foundational work of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Their research and advocacy made tools like ours possible. We encourage everyone to visit privacyrights.org/data-brokers and support their mission.