Data deletion request letter builder (CCPA, GDPR, Argentina)Pick the law and what you want, fill in a few fields, and copy a letter that cites the right sections and deadline.

Privacy laws let you ask a company what it holds about you and have it deleted or corrected. A request that names the law, the section and the deadline tells the reader at once that a clock is running. This builder writes that letter for you.

Building your letter

1. Choose the law that applies. California is selected to start. If you pick another US state, a box appears for your state's name. If you pick Argentina, you can choose a letter in Spanish or English; Spanish is usually the better choice for an Argentine company.
2. Tick what you are asking for: access (tell me what you hold), deletion, correction, or an opt-out (stop selling or sharing my data, or using it for marketing). Access and deletion are ticked to begin with. Tick at least one.
3. Fill in the company, your name and a reply email. Until you do, the letter shows placeholders such as [Company name].
4. Add details if they help: an account number, the web address of a listing, or the information that needs correcting.

The letter updates as you type and carries today's date. Copy the letter puts it on your clipboard for a web form or an email; Print gives you a paper copy. Each letter says you will provide only what is reasonably necessary to confirm your identity and asks the company to tell you what else it needs and why. The English versions also ask it not to use your request to add information to your file.

What each letter cites

A few details behind those lines. California's Attorney General explains that a business may extend the 45 days by another 45 if it tells you, and that the deletion right covers information a business collected from you. Under the GDPR, Article 12 allows two further months for complex or numerous requests and makes most requests free, and an objection to direct marketing under Article 21 must simply be honored. In Argentina, the text of Law 25.326 makes access free at intervals of at least six months, and Article 16 lets you go to court with a habeas data action if a correction or deletion is not made in time. Our explainer on Argentina's data law covers the rest.

An example request

Jane Example, a made-up Californian, finds a listing about herself on a made-up site run by Example Listings Inc. She keeps California selected, leaves access and deletion ticked, types the company name, her name and her opt-out email address, and pastes the listing's web address into the details box. The letter is headed "Subject: Request under the California Consumer Privacy Act". It asks, under sections 1798.110 and 1798.115, for the categories and specific pieces of information held about her, their sources and purposes, and who received them; under section 1798.105, it asks for deletion. It ends by noting that section 1798.130 requires a response within 45 days.

She sends it through the request form in the company's privacy policy and notes the date. If Example Listings bought her details from other sources rather than collecting them from her, the deletion right may not reach them. That is the gap California's Delete Act was written to close, and our piece on the Delete Act and DROP shows how one request reaches every registered data broker.

What the letter cannot do

• It is not legal advice. The builder does not decide whether a law applies to a given company. The CCPA and other state laws apply only to businesses above certain size or data thresholds, and every law has exemptions. If a company disputes your request, a lawyer or the regulator is the right next step.
• It does not send anything or track the deadline. Send it through the company's own request form or privacy email, note the date, and keep the reply.
• People-search sites usually have faster routes. Their own opt-out forms tend to work quicker than a formal letter; our opt-out guide lists them.

What happens to what you type

The letter is built in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us or saved, not even in local storage, and it is gone when you close the page. Your browser may offer to fill in your name and email from its own saved details; that stays between you and your browser.

Questions

Which law should I choose?

Choose the law where you live, or where the company handles your data: California if you are a California resident, the state option if your state has a consumer privacy law, the GDPR for a company in the EU or UK, and Argentina for a database kept there. If none fits, the plain request still works, and some companies answer it anyway.

Where do I send the letter?

Look in the company's privacy policy for a request form, a privacy email address or a link such as "Your privacy choices" or "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information". Keep a copy of what you sent and the date.

What if the company asks for ID?

Companies may verify who you are before handing over or deleting data, and that protects you too. Give only what they need. The builder reminds you not to add ID numbers unless the company already has them and asks for them to verify you.

What if nobody answers in time?

Send a short follow-up that quotes the deadline. After that, you can complain to the regulator: CalPrivacy (the California Privacy Protection Agency) in California, your state attorney general elsewhere in the US, the data protection authority in the EU or UK, or the AAIP (Agencia de Acceso a la Información Pública, the Agency for Access to Public Information) in Argentina.