The footer link is the first thing a regulator or a plaintiff's investigator looks for, because it takes ten seconds to check. If your site sells or shares personal information, that link has to be there, it has to say the right thing, and it has to work.
What section 7013 requires
Section 7013 of the CCPA regulations applies to any business that sells or shares personal information. It must post a conspicuous “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” link in the header or footer of its homepage. The link either opts the consumer out on the spot or leads to a page where they can. That destination, or the privacy policy if the link opts the consumer out directly, must carry the Notice of Right to Opt-out, including the online opt-out form described in section 7026(a)(1).
Two things replace the standard link. A business can post the Alternative Opt-out Link under section 7015, titled “Your Privacy Choices” or “Your California Privacy Choices” and paired with the official opt-out icon; the wording and the icon are both required. Or it can process opt-out preference signals such as Global Privacy Control without friction under section 7025(f) and (g). Even then, the Notice of Right to Opt-out still has to be posted. A business that neither sells nor shares, and says so in its privacy policy, owes none of this.
Where sites go wrong
- The link sits in a menu or a cookie banner but not the homepage footer or header.
- A “Your Privacy Choices” link appears without the icon, so it doesn't satisfy section 7015.
- The link points to a page that explains the right but offers no way to use it.
- The opt-out works on paper and fails in practice. The CPPA's Todd Snyder settlement involved a misconfigured cookie portal that couldn't process opt-out requests for 40 days.
The Attorney General's 2025 Sling TV settlement is the example of friction: an opt-out tangled up with cookie choices across several steps. The link existing is the minimum; what happens after the click is what gets enforced.
What website owners should do
Open your homepage in a fresh browser and find the link without searching. Confirm the title matches section 7013 or 7015 exactly, that the icon is present if you use the alternative, and that the click leads to a working opt-out. Then check the privacy policy for a Notice of Right to Opt-out. Repeat after any redesign or footer change, since these links tend to disappear in template updates.
Where Privisy fits
Privisy's free Do Not Sell Link Checker loads your homepage and reports whether it posts a compliant section 7013 link or a section 7015 alternative. It checks that one requirement and nothing else. For how the link relates to the signal, see GPC vs Do Not Sell links.
Check your footer link
See whether your homepage posts a compliant opt-out link, with the title and icon the regulation requires.
Run the free checker