The California DROP Mechanism—$1.5 Billion in Exposure and the Clock Is Ticking: Key Takeaways from 2026 IAPP Global Summit

$1.5 billion. That number got the room’s attention at the 2026 IAPP Global Summit: $1.5 billion is the theoretical penalty exposure for a single data broker that misses just one deletion cycle under California’s new Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP), a first-of-its-kind centralized deletion mechanism that goes live on August 1, 2026. And, who’s considered a data broker may surprise you.... By: Perkins Coie