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California bans Datamasters from reselling health data of millions

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2 unique sources, 2 articles

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The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) has fined and banned Datamasters, a Texas-based marketing firm, from selling personal and health data of millions of Californians. The company was found to be operating as an unregistered data broker, violating the California Delete Act. Datamasters resold sensitive health data, including information about medical conditions, age, race, political views, and financial activity, for targeted advertising. CalPrivacy imposed a $45,000 fine and ordered the company to delete all collected data by the end of December 2025. The actions align with the launch of the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP), which allows consumers to request deletion of their personal information from all registered data brokers in a single step.

Timeline

  1. 11.01.2026 17:23 2 articles · 2d ago

    California bans Datamasters from reselling health data

    The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) has fined and banned Datamasters, a Texas-based marketing firm, from selling personal and health data of millions of Californians. The company was found to be operating as an unregistered data broker, violating the California Delete Act. Datamasters resold sensitive health data, including information about medical conditions, age, race, political views, and financial activity, for targeted advertising. CalPrivacy imposed a $45,000 fine and ordered the company to delete all collected data by the end of December 2025. The actions align with the launch of the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP), which allows consumers to request deletion of their personal information from all registered data brokers in a single step.

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Similar Happenings

Noncompliance with CCPA by Data Brokers

A study from the University of California, Irvine, reveals that half of data brokers in California are not complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). These brokers often fail to respond to consumer requests to access or delete personally identifiable information (PII) within the required 45-day timeframe. This noncompliance poses significant privacy risks, as the personal data in these databases can be compromised despite anonymization efforts. The study found that only 42% of data brokers responded to verifiable consumer requests (VCRs) made via phone or email, while 71% responded to form-based VCRs. The lack of compliance is attributed to the complexity of the regulations and the learning curve associated with implementing them. The study also highlights the paradoxical nature of verifying PII with data brokers, as consumers must provide PII to determine if a broker holds their data. However, the CCPA includes provisions to prevent the storage and use of this validating data after the query.

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