It’s hard to believe that today’s post marks the publication of our 500th Privacy Tip. What a milestone!

We started publishing Tips because readers kept asking me about ways to protect themselves from scams, how to keep up with the latest threats, and how to stay informed about emerging technology. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive

California companies may have less time than they think to prepare for privacy audits. The California Privacy Protection Agency’s (CPPA) new Audits Division, created in February 2026, is expected to begin assessing companies’ compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) this year, according to Executive Director Tom Kemp. This is a notable remark because—while

California’s new Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP) goes live on August 1, 2026, and the compliance stakes are enormous. State officials have warned that a single missed deletion cycle could create theoretical penalty exposure of $1.5 billion for one data broker. That number reflects how aggressively the Delete Act is designed to work. One consumer request can

On April 22, 2026, OpenAI released its new Privacy Filter tool, designed to identify and mask sensitive information in text before that text is stored, shared, or used in downstream processing. OpenAI says the tool can detect items such as names, addresses, account numbers, private dates, and other personal data in documents, logs, and datasets