An August 25-26 survey of over 500 Californians reveals overwhelming consumer support for California Senate Bill 362 (SB 362)—the California Delete Act—and significant consumer concerns regarding the collection and selling of their personal data by data brokers.
Findings include:
- 81% of Californians surveyed want state lawmakers to support SB 362. 7% said no to SB 362, and the remainder had no opinion.
- 80% of Californians surveyed would use the consumer portal that SB 362 creates to request that data brokers delete any data they have on the consumer and no longer track them. 9% would not use the portal, and the remainder had no opinion.
- 91% of Californians surveyed are concerned about data brokers collecting and selling their personal information. Furthermore, 54% of consumers say they are “very concerned” and 37% said they are somewhat concerned. 6% of Californians were not concerned about data brokers, and only 1% supported data brokers collecting and selling their data.
- 44% of Californians surveyed have been a victim of identity theft or fraud, which is highly relevant given the massive amounts of personal data that data brokers collect and sell about all Californians.
Detailed Results:
Question 1.
Data brokers are businesses that you don't have a direct relationship with that collect your personal information and sell that information to third parties. Personal information is data such as your driver's license number, browsing history and other internet activity, race and ethnic origin, and precise geolocation. How concerned are you knowing that there are hundreds of data brokers collecting and selling your personal information to third parties?
Question 2.
If you had access to a free and secure website that is operated by the California Privacy Protection Agency that would let you initiate a request to delete your personal information from all or a subset of data brokers, and also tell the data brokers to no longer track you, would you use this website?
Question 3
California Senate Bill 362 is a proposal that would create an online portal for consumers to request that data brokers delete any data they have on the consumer and no longer track them. Even if you did not plan to use the website yourself, would you want your state lawmakers to support SB 362?
Question 4
Have you been a victim of identity theft or fraud?
The overwhelming consumer support for SB 362 has been met with fierce resistance from data brokers. Far from an abstract worry, data privacy is a real and immediate concern for the vast majority of Californians, and the stakes are high: whether it's survivors of domestic violence whose whereabouts may be exposed by "people search" services, individuals seeking sensitive reproductive or gender-affirming healthcare or grappling with mental health issues who risk being discriminated against, or the over one million Americans who reported identity theft to the FTC in 2022, the mass sale of personal information poses clear risks to privacy and safety. This is not a hypothetical issue; it's a tangible threat that demands immediate action.
These survey results overwhelmingly demonstrate public demand for stronger consumer privacy protections. The need for SB 362 couldn't be clearer: Californians are calling on their lawmakers to take immediate action to secure their personal information and provide them the control they deserve.
This online survey was commissioned in collaboration with co-sponsors of SB 362 (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse & Californians for Consumer Privacy) and Tom Kemp (cybersecurity & privacy expert) utilizing SurveyMonkey Market Research Solutions (“SurveyMonkey Audience”), a leading market research platform used by 95% of the Fortune 500.
