Data Broker Promoting Ability to Dig Up “Scary” Amounts of Information Agrees to Shut Down

SACRAMENTO – The Enforcement Division of the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) has reached a settlement agreement with Background Alert, Inc., a California-based data broker, for failing to register and pay an annual fee as required by the Delete Act. The settlement requires Background Alert to shut down its operations through 2028 or face a $50,000 fine. The CPPA's Board approved the settlement on February 26, 2025.

The settlement is the latest action in an ongoing investigative sweep of data broker registration compliance, announced on October 30, 2024. Businesses that operated as data brokers in 2024 had until January 31 of this year to register with the CPPA or face fines of $200 per day.

The Enforcement Division alleged that Background Alert created and sold profiles about people through its website, backgroundalert.com. According to a Stipulated Final Order resolving the case, Background Alert amassed billions of public records, drew inferences from those records to identify people who “may somehow be associated with” a searched–for individual, and identified patterns to generate profiles about consumers. Background Alert promoted its business by saying, “It's scary how much information you can dig up on someone.”

Within the next 15 days, Background Alert will cease its operations for three years to resolve the Enforcement Division's claims that the company failed to register between February 1 and October 8, 2024. The Stipulated Final Order requires Background Alert to pay a $50,000 fine if it violates any term of the agreement, including the requirement to shut down its data broker operations through 2028.

“Californians enjoy important protections over their personal information, including inferences that businesses use to profile them,” said Michael Macko, the Agency's head of enforcement. “If that's your business, then you have responsibilities under California's comprehensive privacy law, the CCPA, and you might also qualify as a data broker under the Delete Act. Today's action shows that we won't hesitate to pursue violations based on inferences and profiling.”

The Delete Act requires data brokers to register and pay an annual fee that funds the California Data Broker Registry. The fees also fund the development of the first–of–its–kind deletion mechanism, called the Delete Request and Opt–Out Platform (DROP), that will allow consumers to direct all data brokers to delete their personal information in a single request. DROP will be available to consumers in 2026.

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The California Privacy Protection Agency is committed to promoting the education and awareness of consumers' privacy rights and businesses' responsibilities under the California Consumer Privacy Act.

Individuals can visit privacy.ca.gov to access helpful and up–to–date information on how to exercise their rights and protect their personal information. In addition, the Agency's website provides important information about CPPA board meetings, announcements, and the rulemaking process.