California's Data Access Rights Exist on Paper but Remain Hard to Exercise

California law grants residents the legal right to request and access personal data collected by companies. A reporter submitted data access requests to 100 companies to test how well this right works in practice. Instead of receiving their data, they largely received deletion notices, suggesting companies are not fully complying with the spirit of the law. The experience revealed that exercising data rights in California is a cumbersome and frustrating process despite legal protections. The findings raise questions about corporate accountability and the effectiveness of consumer privacy legislation.