Although ethically questionable to the opinion of some, data brokers technically aren’t overstepping any kind of legal boundaries. Even so, the fact remains that data brokers are collecting your personal information for monetary gain. But what exactly are these entities up to and in what manner are they conducting their business? Let’s find out!
How your personal information is exposed
For the most part, data brokers work with what’s publicly available on the internet, thus acting like aggregators of sorts. However, this isn’t necessarily always the case so let’s go over the most common scenarios in which data brokers can get their hands on your personal data.
Browser cookies
A browser cookie is a tiny text file your browser places on your device on several occasions as you browse the internet. There are different types of cookies, and some are used for advertising and tracking purposes.
Mobile apps
Certain apps you download require elevated permissions to function properly (examples include having the ability to access your camera, hard drive, GPS, and so forth). Unfortunately, some of them forward what they’ve gathered directly into the hands of various data brokers.
Credit cards
Your shopping history can be a valuable asset to data analytics companies that aim to untangle people’s shopping tendencies and pinpoint what’s trending. It’s the data brokers that resell it to them, but to do so, they need to gather it first.
Retailers
Whether you’re shopping online or at a brick & mortar store, rest assured your information is being gathered. Remember that loyalty card that rewards you with discounts on your next purchase? It’s also what allows them to analyze your spending habits.
Public Records
Certain records and documents of yours are publicly available, which allows data brokers to aggregate the information found therein. Examples include census data, voter registrations, marriage licenses, etc.
How data brokers use your information
Data brokers are mostly data aggregators and resellers. What you should be worried about is the agencies they’re selling it to. These can fall into any of the following categories:
Marketing and advertising
Advertisers follow a simple logic. In order to get you interested in buying something, that product or service needs to match your interests or provide a solution to one of your problems. Right off the bat, it’s apparent how useful it can be for them to know about one of your struggles or health issues. Furthermore, if the advertisers know you’ve purchased something in the past, it makes it more likely that you’ll do so again in the future.
Fraud detection
Some companies need to check the validity of your personal data to ensure it matches up with what you’ve stated when opening an account with them. As a general rule of thumb, they tend to do this whenever there’s some kind of financial risk involved, such as when you’re taking out a loan.
Various databases
Oftentimes, people want to know more about a celebrity or public figure. For example, they may be interested in their marital status, birthday, age, net worth, and so on. To populate these databases, webmasters often turn to data brokers for help.
How to reclaim your privacy
To ensure their legality and comply with data protection standards in the US, data brokers are required by law to provide a way to opt out of their database. Since filling out these forms requires a ton of time and energy, many people are utilizing data removal tools that take the heavy lifting out of the equation and automate the process entirely. On top of that, you’re also advised to think twice when installing an app you don’t need and take other preventative measures to safeguard your personal data whenever possible.
Conclusion
Data brokers are a fact of life. By being familiar with their business model, you can utilize both preventative and curative measures alike to make sure your personal data stays off the internet for good.
