Primary Purpose
Give consumers control over the sale or sharing of their personal information.
Consumer Privacy Rights
What Does āDo Not Sell My Personal Informationā Mean?
āDo Not Sell or Share My Personal Informationā refers to a consumerās right to direct a covered business to stop selling or sharing their personal information, including certain disclosures used for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Supports consumer opt-outs
Covers sale and sharing
Requires operational follow-through
Privacy Opt-Out Workflow
01
Receive the Preference
Capture a website request, privacy form, or browser-based signal
Request
02
Identify Relevant Data
Connect the preference to applicable identifiers and data systems
Discover
03
Stop Sale or Sharing
Apply suppression controls across advertising and data workflows
Enforce
04
Maintain the Preference
Record the outcome and prevent future conflicting processing
Monitor
CCPA
CPRA
GPC
Opt-Out
Consent
Quick Definition
Do Not Sell or Share at a Glance
This privacy right gives eligible consumers a way to stop covered businesses from selling or sharing their personal information for certain purposes.
Consumer Action
Submit an opt-out through a privacy link, form, preference center, or supported browser signal.
Business Obligation
Stop applicable sale or sharing after receiving a valid opt-out request and maintain the preference.
Covered Data
Personal information associated with a consumer or household and subject to the applicable privacy law.
Common Mechanisms
Website links, consent tools, privacy request forms, preference signals, and suppression workflows.
Related Rights
Access, deletion, correction, sensitive data limitations, consent, and protection from discriminatory treatment.
Core Definition
What Is āDo Not Sell My Personal Informationā?
āDo Not Sell My Personal Informationā is a consumer privacy concept associated with the right to opt out of a business selling personal information. The current California terminology is generally āDo Not Sell or Share My Personal Information.ā
Under this right, eligible consumers can direct a covered business to stop applicable transfers of personal information that qualify as a sale or sharing under the governing law.
A sale does not necessarily require a traditional cash payment. Depending on the law, exchanging personal information for monetary or another form of valuable consideration may fall within the definition.
Sharing commonly refers to disclosing personal information to another party for cross-context behavioral advertising, whether or not money changes hands.
Businesses must translate the consumerās preference into operational controls across websites, consent platforms, advertising tools, customer systems, data warehouses, vendors, and downstream workflows.
Related Terminology
Sale of Personal Information
A transfer or disclosure of personal information that meets the applicable lawās definition of a sale.
Sharing
Disclosure of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising under California privacy law.
Global Privacy Control
A browser or device-based signal that communicates a consumerās preference to opt out of sale or sharing.
Consumer Rights Request
A request to exercise a privacy right such as access, deletion, correction, limitation, or opt-out.
Key Distinctions
Sale, Sharing, Targeted Advertising, and Consent
Privacy terminology varies by jurisdiction, but each concept affects how organizations collect, disclose, and use personal information.
Sale
Is personal information exchanged for monetary or other value?
Privacy laws may define a sale more broadly than a direct cash transaction and may include certain transfers involving valuable consideration.
Sharing
Is personal information disclosed for cross-context behavioral advertising?
California privacy law separately addresses sharing for this purpose, even when the disclosure does not involve a monetary payment.
Targeted Advertising
Is advertising selected based on activity across unrelated contexts?
Other state privacy laws may use targeted advertising terminology where California uses sharing or cross-context behavioral advertising.
Consent
Has the consumer clearly agreed to a defined processing activity?
Consent may authorize processing that would otherwise be restricted, but it must be captured, governed, and applied according to the relevant law.
Privacy Request Lifecycle
How a Do Not Sell or Share Request Works
Effective opt-out processing connects consumer-facing choices with identity, data, advertising, vendor, and suppression workflows.
Receive
Capture the Consumerās Preference
Receive the request through a privacy choices link, request form, consent interface, or recognized opt-out preference signal.
Match
Connect the Request to Relevant Identifiers
Associate the preference with applicable browser, device, account, customer, household, cookie, advertising, or contact identifiers.
Discover
Identify Applicable Data and Processing
Determine which systems, data categories, technologies, vendors, and advertising workflows are involved in sale or sharing.
Enforce
Apply the Opt-Out
Disable applicable disclosures, update consent states, suppress identifiers, and prevent conflicting downstream processing.
Record
Document the Request and Outcome
Maintain evidence of the request, relevant preference, processing action, timing, exceptions, and completion status.
Monitor
Preserve the Preference Over Time
Monitor new technologies, vendors, identifiers, and data flows so future processing continues to honor the consumerās choice.
Consumer Trust and Compliance
Why the Do Not Sell or Share Right Matters
A visible link is only the starting point. Organizations must understand their data ecosystem and enforce consumer choices across every relevant system and partner.
Gives Consumers More Control
Consumers can limit certain commercial uses and disclosures of their personal information.
Improves Data Transparency
Businesses must understand and explain how personal information moves through advertising, analytics, and vendor ecosystems.
Reduces Regulatory Risk
Reliable workflows help prevent broken links, ignored signals, inconsistent consent states, and unauthorized downstream disclosures.
Strengthens Consumer Trust
Clear choices and dependable execution demonstrate that privacy commitments extend beyond policy language.
Controls Third-Party Data Use
Opt-outs may require action across advertising providers, analytics technologies, partners, and other external recipients.
Supports Scalable Privacy Operations
Automated discovery, classification, mapping, and enforcement reduce dependence on fragmented manual processes.
Operational Privacy
Do Not Sell or Share Compliance Best Practices
Reliable opt-out management requires data visibility, accessible choices, consistent preference enforcement, and continuous validation.
Map Sale and Sharing Activities
Identify advertising, analytics, data enrichment, partnership, and vendor workflows that may involve personal information.
Provide Clear Privacy Choices
Make opt-out methods prominent, accessible, understandable, and easy to use across supported devices and experiences.
Recognize Preference Signals
Detect and apply supported browser or device-based privacy signals wherever required by applicable law.
Connect Consent to Data Systems
Translate consumer choices into enforceable controls across websites, applications, data platforms, and downstream tools.
Control Third-Party Disclosures
Review vendor contracts, integrations, tags, SDKs, APIs, and recipient obligations for applicable data transfers.
Test and Monitor Continuously
Validate that links, signals, suppression logic, consent states, and downstream controls continue to work after changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Not Sell or Share FAQs
Explore common questions about California privacy opt-outs, sale, sharing, browser signals, consumer requests, and business obligations.
What does āDo Not Sell My Personal Informationā mean?
It refers to a consumerās right to direct a covered business to stop selling personal information. Current California terminology generally includes both sale and sharing.
Why does the link now say āDo Not Sell or Shareā?
California privacy law expanded the opt-out right to include sharing personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, not only qualifying sales.
What is considered a sale of personal information?
A sale may include certain transfers of personal information for monetary or other valuable consideration, subject to statutory definitions and exceptions.
What does sharing personal information mean?
In California, sharing generally refers to disclosing personal information to another party for cross-context behavioral advertising.
What is Global Privacy Control?
Global Privacy Control is a browser or device-based signal that communicates a userās preference to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information.
Does every business need a Do Not Sell or Share link?
Requirements depend on whether the business is covered by the applicable law and whether it sells or shares personal information in a way subject to the opt-out right.
Is an opt-out request the same as a deletion request?
No. An opt-out limits qualifying sale or sharing, while a deletion request asks a business to delete applicable personal information, subject to legal exceptions.
How can businesses automate opt-out compliance?
Businesses can automate data discovery, consent synchronization, preference signal detection, request routing, suppression, downstream enforcement, and compliance reporting.
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