What is an authorized agent for privacy requests, and why do data brokers ask for one?

Updated September 9, 2026 · by HomeCloak

If a removal service files requests on your behalf, some data brokers will write back with one question before they act: prove this person authorized you. That is not obstruction; it's the law working as written. Understanding it explains why serious removal services have you sign one short document up front.

The legal basis

California's Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA, lets a consumer use an authorized agent to submit requests to know, delete, correct, and opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.135 and § 1798.145). The regulations (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, § 7063) spell out what a business may demand: signed permission from the consumer, and, for some requests, direct verification of the consumer's identity.

Most other state privacy laws (Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Oregon, Montana, Delaware, New Jersey, Minnesota, Maryland, and others) include similar authorized-agent provisions, generally for opt-out requests.

What a broker is allowed to ask for

A business may require the agent to provide the consumer's signed permission, and may also verify the consumer's identity directly. It may not simply refuse to deal with agents. Some brokers also ask for a power of attorney; that is an alternative, not a requirement, when a signed authorization is provided.

In practice, well-run privacy teams (BeenVerified's compliance desk, for example) reply with a request for "a viewable copy of the consumer's signed authorization" and proceed once they have it.

What a valid authorization contains

A short, signed statement is enough. It should include:

Your full name and the address the requests concern.
The agent's legal name (for example, HomeCloak, LLC) and what it is authorized to do: submit deletion, opt-out, and suppression requests and receive responses.
The laws it is made under, so the broker's privacy team can file it correctly.
Your signature, the date, and, for an electronic signature, a record of how it was made.

How HomeCloak handles it

Every customer e-signs the authorization once, at checkout. It becomes a dated, signed PDF that is attached to every removal request we send, alongside proof of residence. When a broker asks for it anyway, our system replies with it automatically. You never write to a broker yourself.

Common questions

Do I need a lawyer or a notary?

No. The statute requires signed permission, not a notarized document. An electronic signature under the federal ESIGN Act is valid.

Can a broker refuse my agent's request outright?

Not lawfully, in states with authorized-agent provisions, once a valid authorization is provided. They can require identity verification and can decline requests that lack it.

Does the authorization let the agent do anything else with my data?

Only what it says. A well-drafted authorization is limited to privacy requests and can be revoked in writing at any time.

Skip the 250 hours.

HomeCloak files verified removal requests with every listing site, people-search network, and registered data broker on our list, reads the replies, follows up on every silence, and re-files when something comes back — for $109.99 a year. We prepare the few steps only you can do.

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