Does a VPN Stop Data Brokers Selling Your Location? What Works in 2026
Does a VPN Stop Data Brokers From Selling Your Location? What Actually Works in 2026
If you bought a VPN to stop data brokers from selling where you live, work, and sleep, you spent money on the wrong tool for that specific job. A VPN is genuinely useful — it hides your IP-based location from the websites you visit and stops your internet provider from profiling your browsing. But the location data brokers package and resell almost never comes from your IP address. It comes from the GPS chip in your phone and the app permissions you granted years ago.
That distinction is the whole story, and most VPN marketing quietly avoids it. This guide draws the line honestly, then shows you the mechanisms that do work in 2026 — starting with California's new one-stop deletion tool, which went live in January and forces hundreds of registered brokers to erase you from a single request.
The short answer: a VPN hides the wrong kind of location
A VPN encrypts the connection between your device and a remote server, then sends your traffic out from that server's IP address. Websites and trackers that try to geolocate you from your IP will see the VPN server's city instead of yours, and your ISP sees only that you connected to a VPN — not which sites you loaded. That is real privacy value, and it is the layer a VPN is built for.
But data brokers do not primarily build location profiles from IP addresses. IP geolocation is coarse (often just a city or a large metro area) and easily broken by exactly this kind of proxying. The high-value product brokers sell — the trail that shows a specific device visiting a specific clinic, place of worship, or address night after night — is derived from GPS coordinates and device sensors, harvested by apps and passed through the advertising supply chain. A VPN never touches that data, because it never travels over the network path a VPN controls.
A VPN changes the return address on your internet traffic. It does not reach into the app that already read your GPS and sold the coordinates.
Where your location data actually comes from
To understand why encryption cannot fix this, you have to see the two pipelines that feed the location-data economy. Neither one runs through your browser or your IP address.
App SDKs harvesting GPS in the background
Ordinary apps — weather, casual games, navigation, coupon and "free" utility apps — often embed third-party software development kits (SDKs) whose real business is data collection. When you grant an app location permission, that SDK can read precise GPS coordinates and phone them home, bundled with your device's advertising identifier and a timestamp. The app you actually wanted works; the SDK you never heard of is the customer. Firms like Gravy Analytics, Venntel, Mobilewalla, and Kochava built their inventories this way, aggregating billions of location signals from thousands of apps.
Real-time bidding leaking your coordinates
The second pipeline is the ad-exchange bid stream. Every time an app or site shows you a programmatic ad, it broadcasts a "bid request" to dozens of ad-tech companies so they can bid to show you something. Those bid requests can include your approximate or precise location, device ID, and other attributes. Bidders are supposed to use the data only to decide whether to bid — but the request itself is a firehose of personal data, and some companies simply collect and resell what flows past them. This is why location data ends up with brokers who were never in any app you installed.
The common thread: the collection happens on your device (GPS + permissions) and in the ad supply chain (bid streams). The fix is therefore about permissions and deletion, not network encryption.
California's DROP: one request, 500-plus brokers, live since January 2026
The single most powerful new tool arrived on January 1, 2026: the California Privacy Protection Agency's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP). It was created by California's Delete Act (SB 362, signed in 2023) and it does something no per-company opt-out ever managed — it turns one verified request into a standing deletion order against every data broker registered with the state, more than 500 companies.
You create an account with the CPPA, verify your identity, and submit a single deletion request. Registered data brokers are then required to check DROP, delete the personal information they hold about you, stop selling or sharing it, and direct their own service providers to do the same. You do not have to find each broker, fill in each form, or track each response. You can see the state's registry and the platform through the California Privacy Protection Agency.
The enforcement teeth that make it real
An opt-out is only as good as its deadline. The Delete Act sets hard ones. Beginning August 1, 2026, every registered data broker must access DROP at least once every 45 days, process the deletion requests waiting there, and keep deleting matching data on that recurring 45-day cycle — not just once. That recurring obligation is the key design choice: it means brokers cannot simply delete you today and re-list you next month without falling out of compliance.
Non-compliance carries administrative penalties enforced by the CPPA, including fines for brokers that fail to register (the Act sets a penalty of $200 per day for registration failures) and enforcement for ignoring deletion duties. Registration itself is mandatory and annual, which is how the state maintains the list of 500-plus brokers that DROP fans your request out to.
The FTC crackdown that gave the whole issue teeth
California's tool did not appear in a vacuum. Over the preceding two years, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ran a wave of enforcement specifically against sensitive-location data selling, establishing that this practice is a legal liability, not a gray area:
Kochava — the FTC sued the location-data broker in 2022, alleging it sold precise geolocation data that could track people to sensitive places such as reproductive health clinics and places of worship; the litigation proceeded in Idaho federal court.
Gravy Analytics / Venntel — in orders announced in December 2024 and finalized in 2025, the FTC barred the companies from selling sensitive location data and required them to establish a sensitive-location data program. (Gravy Analytics separately disclosed a major data breach in January 2025.)
Mobilewalla — the FTC's action, announced in December 2024 and made final in 2025, restricted the company from selling sensitive location data and from collecting consumer data via real-time bidding for purposes other than participating in the auction itself.
That last point matters: the Mobilewalla order directly named real-time bidding as a collection channel and limited it — official confirmation that the bid-stream pipeline described above is exactly how brokers acquire location data.
How to actually get deleted — and stay deleted
Here is the concrete sequence. The first step is jurisdiction-specific; the rest work for everyone and are what actually stops future collection at the source.
File a California DROP request (if you are a California resident). Create an account with the CPPA, verify your identity, and submit one deletion request. It routes to every registered broker. There is no fee to use it.
If you are outside California, turn on Global Privacy Control (GPC) and use per-broker opt-outs. GPC is a browser-level signal that tells sites you are opting out of the sale and sharing of your data; under the CCPA it must be honored as a valid opt-out. Enable it in a supporting browser or extension. For the largest brokers, you will still need to submit individual opt-out or deletion forms.
Revoke app location permissions. Go through your phone's settings and set location access to "Never" or "Ask Next Time" for every app that does not genuinely need it, and "While Using" (never "Always") for the few that do. This is the single most effective step against future collection, because it cuts off the SDK at the source.
Disable or reset your mobile advertising ID. On Android, delete the Advertising ID entirely (Settings › Privacy › Ads). On iPhone, App Tracking Transparency already forces apps to ask before tracking — set "Allow Apps to Request to Track" to off so the answer is always no. Without a stable ad ID, brokers struggle to stitch your location trail together.
Reset location history and audit past sharing. Turn off and delete stored location history in your Google and Apple accounts, and review "Timeline"-style features. This clears historical trails those platforms retained.
Where a VPN legitimately fits
None of this means a VPN is useless — it means you should use it for what it actually does. A VPN meaningfully reduces IP-based cross-site tracking, so ad-tech firms that fingerprint you partly by IP get a noisier signal. It stops your ISP from building a browsing profile to sell or hand over, which is a real category of data monetization. And it protects traffic on untrusted networks. Treat it as a supporting privacy layer that hardens your network path — not as the thing that removes you from the location-broker economy. That job belongs to deletion and permissions.
The honest limits you should plan around
DROP is California-specific. Its legal force covers California residents. Other U.S. states rely on their own privacy laws, GPC signals, and per-broker opt-outs, which are more piecemeal.
Deletion is not always permanent. You are deleting data brokers currently hold. New data is recollected constantly from apps and bid streams, which is exactly why the Delete Act mandates a recurring 45-day cycle — and why revoking permissions matters as much as deleting.
Coverage is limited to registered brokers. DROP reaches brokers that registered with California. A firm that operates unlawfully outside the registry is a matter for enforcement, not the tool.
Verification is required. Deletion requests must be verifiable, which means handing the platform enough identity to confirm you are you — a reasonable tradeoff, but a tradeoff.
Practical takeaway
If your goal is to stop brokers from selling your location, do the source-level work first: revoke app location permissions, kill your advertising ID, and reset location history — that stops new collection. Then delete what already exists: file a California DROP request if you qualify, or lean on Global Privacy Control plus per-broker opt-outs if you do not. Keep a VPN if you value hiding your IP from sites and your ISP, but recognize it as one supporting layer, not the answer. The tool that finally makes broker deletion enforceable at scale is a privacy platform with legal deadlines behind it — not an encrypted tunnel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a VPN stop data brokers from selling my location?
No. A VPN hides your IP-based location from websites and your ISP, but data brokers build location profiles from GPS coordinates collected by app SDKs and leaked through ad-exchange bid streams. That data is gathered on your device and in the ad supply chain, where a VPN has no reach. To stop it you need permission changes and deletion requests, not network encryption.
What is a California DROP delete request and who can use it?
DROP (Delete Request and Opt-out Platform) is a tool run by the California Privacy Protection Agency, live since January 1, 2026. California residents create an account, verify their identity, and submit one deletion request that routes to every data broker registered with the state — more than 500 companies. It is free to use, and brokers must honor it under the Delete Act.
How do I opt out of data brokers in 2026 if I don't live in California?
Enable Global Privacy Control (GPC) in a supporting browser or extension so sites receive an automatic opt-out-of-sale signal, which is legally recognized under the CCPA and honored by many companies nationwide. For the biggest brokers you will still need to file individual opt-out or deletion forms. Combine that with revoking app location permissions and disabling your advertising ID to cut off new collection.
How do I remove personal information from data brokers permanently?
There is no permanent one-time removal, because brokers continually recollect data from apps and bid streams. That is why California's Delete Act requires registered brokers to reprocess deletions on a recurring 45-day cycle starting August 1, 2026. To make deletion stick, pair your DROP or opt-out requests with turning off app location permissions and resetting your mobile advertising ID.
Does turning off my advertising ID stop my location being sold?
It significantly weakens brokers' ability to sell it. The advertising ID is the key that lets them link a location trail to a single device over time; without a stable ID, the coordinates are far harder to stitch into a profile. On Android you can delete the Advertising ID outright, and on iPhone you can disable app tracking so apps cannot request it.
Is the California DROP tool free, and how long does deletion take?
Yes, DROP is free for California consumers. After you submit a verified request, registered data brokers are required to begin processing deletions and, from August 1, 2026, to access the platform at least once every 45 days to delete matching data on an ongoing basis. Expect deletion to roll out over weeks rather than instantly, since it depends on each broker's next 45-day check.
Should I still use a VPN for privacy then?
Yes, for what it actually does. A VPN reduces IP-based cross-site tracking and stops your ISP from profiling and monetizing your browsing, which is real value. Just treat it as a supporting layer — deletion tools like DROP, GPC signals, and permission resets are what address the location-broker problem directly.
