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CalPrivacy Fines Datamasters $45K for Unregistered Data Broker Violations

Rickenbacher Data LLC, d/b/a DatamastersJanuary 8, 2026California Privacy Protection Agency

Penalty Amount

$45,000

Summary

Datamasters, a data broker, failed to register with the California Data Broker Registry as required by the Delete Act. The company sold sensitive personal information including health conditions, age, race, and political views. As a result, it must pay a $45,000 fine and cease all sales of Californians' personal information.

Remedy

Datamasters must pay a $45,000 civil penalty and is permanently enjoined from selling any personal information of California residents.

Monetary PenaltyBan

Contract Impact

In-house legal teams should review all vendor, customer, and data processing agreements where personal information is shared, sold, or processed for targeted advertising. Focus on clauses governing data sharing, consent for sensitive data (including health conditions, age, race, and political views), breach notification, data retention, and compliance with jurisdiction-specific laws like the California Delete Act. Changes may be needed to require counterparties to certify data broker registration where applicable, prohibit the resale of sensitive personal information without explicit consent and proper registration, and incorporate mechanisms for honoring consumer deletion requests under laws like the Delete Act. Agreements should also clarify responsibilities for data security and impose penalties for non-compliance with registration and sales prohibitions.

Contract Search Terms

data broker registration requirementDelete Act compliance certificationprohibition on selling personal informationsensitive data consent clauseCalifornia consumer data rightsdata processing agreementthird-party data sharing restrictionsdata deletion mechanismstargeted advertising data usehealth and demographic data resale

Laws Cited

California Delete ActCal. Civ. Code 1798.140 et seq.

Violation Types

Entity Details

Entity

Rickenbacher Data LLC, d/b/a Datamasters

Also known as: Datamasters

Industry

Data Broker

Official Sources

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