California bans data broker reselling health data of millions

California’s privacy regulator fined Datamasters $45,000 for operating as an unregistered data broker, blocked it from selling Californians’ data, and ordered deletion of previously purchased state residents’ personal information, citing resales of sensitive health and demographic data for targeted advertising. The agency also fined S&P Global $62,600 for late registration due to an administrative error. The actions align with the California Delete Act and precede the 2026 launch of the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) enabling consumer deletion requests.