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We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online


Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found. After our reporters reached out for comment, multiple companies have stopped the practice.

More than 30 of the companies, which collect and sell consumers’ personal information, hid their deletion instructions from Google, according to a review by The Markup and CalMatters of hundreds of broker websites. As a standard practice, all critical pages—including opt-out and privacy pages—are intended to be indexed by default to ensure maximum visibility and accessibility.” The Markup and CalMatters confirmed that the code had been removed as of July 31. Accessing it often required scrolling multiple screens, dismissing pop-ups for cookie permissions and newsletter sign-ups and then finding a link that was a fraction the size of other text on the page.

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