New Poll Shows 81% of Californians Support SB 362

[Update October 2023: the California Delete Act aka SB 362 was signed into law on October 10, 2023 by Governor Newsom. My analysis of the law can be found here.]

A survey of over 500 Californians that was conducted on August 25-26 reveals overwhelming 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 of the poll include:

• 81% of Californians surveyed want state lawmakers to support SB 362. Only 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.  Only 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” while 37% said they are somewhat concerned. Only 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.

Detail Survey Results

The overwhelming consumer support for SB 362 has been met with fierce resistance from data brokers — defined as businesses that knowingly collect and sell to third parties the personal information of consumers with whom they do not have a direct relationship. These poll results overwhelmingly demonstrate the urgent 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.