The DELETE Act: New Federal System Allows One-Click Data Deletion from Every Registered Data Broker

The newly proposed Data Elimination and Limiting Extensive Tracking and Exchange Act—or the DELETE Act—is a major federal push to give consumers back control over their personal data. What does it do? It mandates that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) create a centralized, free system where you can submit a single request that forces every registered data broker to delete your personal information and stop collecting more of it. Think of it as a universal 'unsubscribe' button for your entire digital footprint.

The Universal Delete Button: Goodbye, Data Brokers

For anyone who has ever tried to figure out which shadowy company is selling their location data or browsing history, this is the game-changer. Currently, if you want your data deleted, you have to find each broker individually and navigate their specific, often opaque, deletion process. The DELETE Act, outlined in Section 2, changes this by requiring the FTC to establish a Centralized Data Deletion System within one year. This system will be secure, requiring you to submit persistent identifiers like your email or phone number, which are then run through a security process called 'salting and hashing.' This way, the system doesn't hold your raw data, but it generates unique codes that data brokers can check against their own records.

Registered data brokers are required to check this registry at least once every 31 days. If they find a match, they must delete all that matching personal information within 31 days and stop collecting it in the future. This is a massive compliance burden on the industry, which must also undergo an independent audit every three years to prove they are following the rules. This provision effectively creates a mandatory, automatic 'right to be forgotten' on a national scale, making the process simple and free for the average person who is already juggling too many passwords and subscriptions.

Who’s Watching the Watchmen (and the Data Brokers)?

To make this system work, the bill creates a mandatory Data Broker Annual Registration process with the FTC. Within 18 months of enactment, every data broker must register, providing their contact information, details on the types of data they collect, where they get it, and how consumers can opt out. The FTC must then post this information online in a machine-readable format. This is a huge step toward transparency for an industry that thrives in the shadows.

However, there are a couple of caveats here that are worth noting. While the FTC has to post registration details, they can withhold information if it qualifies as a trade secret under existing federal law (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)). Even more concerning, the FTC can also withhold information if they officially decide that releasing it would harm public safety or welfare, which is a pretty broad and subjective standard. For the person trying to figure out which company is scraping their personal details, this could mean key information about a data broker’s operations remains hidden from public view, even if they are registered.

The Cost of Compliance and State Laws

Enforcement is handled by treating violations as an unfair or deceptive practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act, giving the FTC full regulatory teeth. To fund the system, data brokers must pay an annual subscription fee to access the centralized deletion database, capped at 1% of the FTC’s total operating costs for the system. Essentially, the industry is paying for the system that allows consumers to delete their data from the industry.

Finally, the DELETE Act sets a federal floor for privacy protection. The bill explicitly states that it will override any state privacy law that offers less protection than this federal standard. But, and this is important, if a state like California or Colorado has a law that offers greater protection, that stronger state law remains fully in effect. This means the federal government is establishing a baseline, but states are still free to innovate and offer stronger rights to their residents, which is a smart approach to federalism in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.