Introducing Opt-Out Sync: comprehensive “Do Not Sell” enforcement

Over the past year, U.S. privacy enforcement has sent a consistent message: Opt-outs are no longer a checkbox issue. They are an execution issue.

In enforcement actions brought by the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) and the California Attorney General, regulators have repeatedly focused on failures related to “Do Not Sell or Share” rights. Not missing links or outdated disclosures — but whether consumer opt-out choices were easy to exercise, clearly presented, and actually enforced across systems.

In cases involving companies like Honda and Todd Snyder, regulators made clear that offering an opt-out mechanism is only the starting point. What matters is whether that mechanism works the way the law intends — without unnecessary friction, confusing design, or technical gaps that prevent the opt-out from being honored.

What’s becoming clear is that this standard is nearly impossible to meet with disconnected tools.

That’s why today, Ketch is introducing Opt-Out Sync: single step, comprehensive opt-out enforcement for your consumers, everywhere personal data is used: across devices, channels, browsers, backend systems, and downstream partners.

The problem with opt-outs today: disconnected systems, partial enforcement

Recent enforcement actions make one thing clear: regulators are no longer evaluating “Do Not Sell or Share” compliance based on the presence of a link or a form. They are assessing whether opt-out rights work end to end, in practice, across the full data lifecycle.

Across CPPA enforcement actions and investigations by the California Attorney General, four expectations consistently emerge when regulators evaluate opt-out compliance:

• Opt-outs must be frictionless: Consumers must be able to exercise opt-out rights without unnecessary steps, delays, or identity verification. Regulators have explicitly criticized opt-out flows that require consumers to submit additional personal information or navigate multiple pages to complete a single request.
  
  
• Choice must be symmetrical and unbiased: Opting out cannot require more effort than opting in. Interfaces that make it easier to allow data sharing than to stop it — through extra clicks, confusing navigation, or multiple controls — are increasingly treated as unlawful interference with consumer choice.
  
  
• Interfaces and language must be clear and usable: Regulators are treating usability as a compliance requirement, not a design preference. Opt-out mechanisms must be easy to find, easy to understand, and written in plain language — not buried behind fragmented experiences or vague descriptions.
  
  
• Opt-outs must be enforced everywhere data is used: Most importantly, regulators expect opt-out choices to be honored across all systems and partners where personal data flows — including client-side technologies, backend databases, advertising platforms, and downstream recipients.

These expectations are clear. The challenge is that most privacy technology stacks were never designed to meet them.

In practice, opt-out enforcement is split across multiple systems that don’t share identity or enforcement logic.

Consent management platforms (CMPs) control cookies, pixels, and tags, operating primarily in anonymous, browser-based contexts. Data subject rights (DSR) systems manage opt-out requests tied to known identities such as email addresses or customer records. In most organizations, these systems operate independently.

That architectural divide makes partial enforcement almost inevitable:

• Opting out via a consent banner may stop browser tracking, but leave backend data use untouched.
• Submitting a Do Not Sell request through a webform may flag backend records, while cookies and advertising pixels continue to fire.
• Opt-out choices made in one context often fail to carry over to other devices, browsers, or channels.

From a regulatory perspective, these are not technical nuances. They are compliance failures. An opt-out that only works in one layer of the data stack does not meet modern enforcement standards.

This is the enforcement gap Opt-Out Sync was built to close.

Close enforcement gaps with Opt-Out Sync

For years, privacy teams have been asked to meet end-to-end opt-out requirements using tools that operate in isolation. One system managing cookies, another handling rights requests, and manual processes attempting to bridge the gap in between.

Opt-Out Sync was built to eliminate that gap.

An extension of the Ketch Identity Sync framework, Opt-Out Sync connects consent banners, opt-out webforms, identity resolution, and backend enforcement into a single, unified workflow. A consumer’s “Do Not Sell or Share” choice is captured once — and then automatically recognized and enforced everywhere their data is used.

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Key innovations in Opt-Out Sync

Single-action opt-out enforcement

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Opt-Out Sync is designed around a simple premise: a consumer should not have to repeat themselves for their opt-out choice to be respected.

When a consumer submits a “Do Not Sell or Share” request — whether through a consent banner or a webform — Opt-Out Sync captures that choice once and applies it automatically across systems. The opt-out does not depend on the consumer verifying their identity or submitting the same request multiple times in different places.

Behind the scenes, Opt-Out Sync uses identity signals to recognize consumers across logged-in and logged-out states, browsers, and devices. This allows businesses to honor opt-out requests comprehensively without introducing the friction regulators have explicitly warned against.

Adaptive opt-out experiences

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Regulators have made it clear that opt-out flows should not become an excuse to collect more personal data than necessary. Opt-Out Sync is built with this principle in mind.

Opt-out experiences dynamically adapt based on context. When Ketch already has a reliable identifier for a consumer, Opt-Out Sync avoids asking for redundant information like email addresses. When a consumer is unknown, the system still enables opt-out without blocking the request behind unnecessary data collection.

This approach supports data minimization while still allowing opt-out choices to be enforced consistently across systems.

Unified workflows for all users

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One of the most common sources of opt-out failure is the split between “known” users (identified by email or account ID) and “unknown” users (identified only by cookies or device signals).

Opt-Out Sync eliminates the need for separate workflows. A single opt-out process governs enforcement for both anonymous and authenticated users, ensuring that opt-out logic doesn’t diverge based on how the consumer interacts with the business.

This unified approach reduces operational complexity while closing enforcement gaps that often arise when organizations maintain parallel processes for different user types.

Automatically linked consent signals

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In many implementations today, consent banners and opt-out webforms operate independently, forcing consumers to manage their preferences in multiple places.

Opt-Out Sync natively connects these experiences. An opt-out expressed through a banner is recognized by backend workflows, and an opt-out submitted through a webform is reflected in consent enforcement on the website. There is no manual reconciliation and no ambiguity about which signal takes precedence.

This linkage ensures that consumer intent is interpreted consistently, regardless of where or how the opt-out is submitted.

End-to-end enforcement with audit-ready proof

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Opt-Out Sync extends enforcement everywhere a consumer’s data lives. Once an opt-out choice is captured, it is propagated across browser configurations, stopping tags and trackers – as well as backend systems and downstream partners, including CRM platforms, CDPs, advertising systems, identity resolution providers, and DSPs.

Every enforcement action is logged with identity-based audit trails, creating a clear record of how and where each opt-out was applied. This provides businesses with the documentation needed to demonstrate compliance during regulatory inquiries — without relying on assumptions or manual evidence gathering.

Meet enforcement expectations with Opt-Out Sync

As enforcement accelerates across U.S. state privacy laws, regulators are making one thing clear: opt-out compliance is no longer about surface-level controls. It’s about whether a consumer’s choice actually governs how their data is used — everywhere.

Disconnected tools and partial enforcement aren’t just inefficient; they create real compliance risk. An opt-out that works in one system but not another is no longer viewed as a technical limitation. It’s viewed as a failure to respect consumer rights.

Regulators are increasingly looking for proof that opt-out signals are captured once, interpreted consistently, and enforced end to end across the full data lifecycle — from browser-based tracking to backend systems and downstream partners. Meeting that standard requires moving beyond point solutions and manual workarounds.

We built Opt-Out Sync in response to this shift, enabling organizations to operationalize opt-out requirements comprehensively and at scale.

“The industry has spent years adding more banners and forms, while opt-out enforcement remained fragmented behind the scenes. Ketch Opt-Out Sync is different. It connects identity, consent, and enforcement so a single opt-out actually governs how data is used — everywhere it exists.”

— Max Anderson, Co-Founder of Ketch

See Opt-Out Sync in action

Opt-Out Sync is available today. Explore the product tour to see how unified, end-to-end opt-out enforcement works in practice.

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