Prepare evidence for a California privacy complaint

A useful California privacy complaint explains what happened, when it happened and which business was involved. Prepare those facts before opening CalPrivacy's form. Another catalog arriving is an observation to record; by itself, it does not establish a violation of a privacy right.

By Junk Mail Magic. Updated October 2, 2026.

Make the events easy to check

Identify the business and the privacy right or process you are concerned about. Use its official name and website, and explain how California residents are affected.
Write the events in date order: what you requested, how you sent it, what the business said and what you observed afterward. Keep uncertain dates marked as approximate.
List the supporting material and where you stored it. The paper form asks you to describe supporting materials; it says the agency may request them later.
Read the form's sworn and unsworn choices before selecting one. A sworn complaint includes an attestation under penalty of perjury and authorization for the agency to contact the named business.
Use the official online form or the current paper form. Follow its instructions about contact information and evidence instead of posting your documents in a public complaint or review.

What the agency does with a complaint

CalPrivacy uses complaints to identify privacy problems and support its enforcement work. It does not represent individual consumers or act as their attorney. Its form also explains that submitted information may be used or disclosed in enforcement proceedings.

Keep the business's response in your account of events, including any exception or reason it gave. Describe the point you believe is unresolved without inventing motives or treating every continuing mailing as proof of unlawful data sharing.

Private complaint preparation sheet

Example for your own use. Replace the bracketed details and review what you share.

Business and official website: [details] California connection: [who is affected] Privacy right or process at issue: [description / unsure] Request or event: [date, action, route] Business response: [date and what it said] Later observation: [date and what I directly observed] Supporting materials: [file names or locations; do not paste sensitive contents here] Uncertain facts: [items to label clearly] Form choice reviewed: [sworn / unsworn / undecided] Submission date and receipt: [details]

Keep the report and mail request separate

Save what you submitted and any receipt the form provides. If you also want an advertiser to stop paper promotions, keep that request in its own log. Filing a regulator complaint does not submit the sender's postal preference for you.

Official sources

Track a California privacy request's response dates Ask about promotional mail after a data-deletion response Share progress without sharing home addresses Avoid putting an address in a public review Privacy and marketing lists All practical mail guides

Choose the route that matches the mailing

Use the official route described in this guide for this kind of mail. For a separate ordinary advertisement, Junk Mail Magic can help prepare a sender-specific removal request.

Compare removal routes