Episode 52 - Data Brokers: How our Personal Information is Sold

Robo-calls, phishing, identity theft, ads we didn’t ask for – and worse. How does this happen? How does our personal data get collected, used and sold, without our knowing approval? Data brokers are a primary answer. They are businesses that collect, use, and sell blocks of personal information to a wide variety of buyers. This is not per se a shady business, though it may seem that way to those of us overwhelmed with constant interference by phone, email, pop-ups, and attacks aiming to disrupt our day or steal our assets or identity.

Rob Shavell, CEO and co-founder of Abine, a 10-year-old privacy company, gives us a tour of data brokerage. Our personal data is collected in many ways. Some is virtually public – postal address, registered voter information, other ways in which details about us become publicly available. A lot of information about ourselves we contribute to the world – through social media posts, publicity, items we publish. There’s a tension between our instinct for privacy and the desire to be known, even famous if only for a day or two. Sensitive information is held by financial institutions, healthcare providers and others, who are generally restricted by federal and state law from sharing it with others but are themselves victims of a data breach. Information once disclosed becomes available to data brokers, who organize, package and sell the data to others interested in advertising to customers, monitoring behavior, analyzing groups or otherwise seeking data for their legitimate purposes (and otherwise.

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