How Many Data Broker Sites Are There?

There is no official total. The best verifiable number is California's: on August 25, 2026, CalPrivacy said 654 data brokers were enrolled in DROP, its deletion system. Vermont, Oregon and Texas each run a separate registry, and each counts something slightly different. All of these count companies that registered. Companies that sell personal data without registering are in none of them.

The Numbers You Can Check

Every figure below comes from a page we read, linked where it appears. Where a number is not published, or we could not reach the source, we say so.

California: 654 enrolled in DROP

CalPrivacy's August 25, 2026 announcement says 654 data brokers are part of the system. That is the count of brokers enrolled in DROP, not a raw registry total. GovTech, in a piece on DROP signups, reported nearly 600 brokers in the registry and said the agency believes "clearly more than 600" remain unregistered. The page above is dated earlier than CalPrivacy's August figure, which is one reason the two numbers differ. The registry page on cppa.ca.gov showed "0 data brokers registered" with a last-updated date of 7/29/2026 when we read it, so we do not use it for a current total.

Vermont: not verified against the official site

Vermont's registry is the oldest in the country, and it is kept by the Secretary of State. We could not load the official list from the tools we used, so we do not give an official Vermont total. A third-party snapshot, offlist.me, listed 278 entries as of August 25, 2026, 177 marked active and 101 expired. Separately, when we imported a Vermont file exported on September 27, 2026 into our own system, 387 registrations matched brokers we already track. That is our own internal number and not a published count, and it is higher than the snapshot because it counts registrations across the file, not only entries marked active. The gap between 278 and 387 is the same definition problem this post is about.

Oregon: a 2025 state figure

A presentation to the Oregon Legislature on the state's registry listed 126 total registrations for 2024 and, for 2025 at the time of the document, "345 active and 218 renewed." The document does not make clear how the second figure relates to the first, and the date of the meeting was not clear from the file, so treat it as a 2025 snapshot, not a current count.

Texas: not published

The Texas Secretary of State page describes a searchable Data Broker Registry but does not state a count. We found no published Texas total.

The "4,000+" figure

You will see estimates of several thousand data brokers worldwide in articles and vendor blogs. We could not trace one to a primary source we could open, so we do not repeat a specific number. If you need one, treat any such figure as an estimate, not a count.

Why the Counts Differ

• Registered is not operating. A registry lists companies that filed. Companies that sold data without filing are missing, which is what California's registration fines target. GovTech's "more than 600" unregistered is the agency's own estimate of that gap.
• Different states, different definitions. Each state decides who counts as a data broker and who must register, and registries record active, renewed, expired and withdrawn entries differently.
• Enrolled is not registered. California's 654 counts brokers in DROP. The registry is a related but separate list.
• Different kinds of company. A people-search site that publishes your name, address and relatives is one thing. A B2B marketing data firm, an analytics vendor or a location-data seller may never show your profile on a public website. Registries put both in one list. Our explainer on data brokers covers the types.
• Counts move. Registries renew each January in California and expire entries in other states, so a number is only true for its date.

What That Means for Opt-Outs

Because no complete list exists, nobody can honestly promise to remove you from every broker. What you can do is work the registered ones systematically, and give extra attention to the sites that show your details publicly. Our data broker directory lists the ones we track.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many data broker sites are there?

No official total exists. The most recent hard number is California's 654 brokers enrolled in DROP as of August 25, 2026. Other registries count other things, and unregistered companies are in none.

How many data brokers are registered in California?

CalPrivacy reported 654 in DROP. GovTech reported nearly 600 in the registry and "clearly more than 600" unregistered. We could not read a current total from the registry page itself.

Why do the counts differ so much?

Registries count registrations, by state, by cycle, and with active and expired entries mixed in. They also lump people-search sites together with B2B data firms.

Do I have to opt out of every broker?

You cannot, because the list is incomplete. Most people start with the people-search sites that publish their address and phone number, then cover the registered brokers. See what a data broker is for the difference between the types.