If oil is known as black gold, then data must surely be digital gold. Indeed, in the 21st century, our personal information is increasingly a commodity that is harvested, parceled up and sold to the highest bidder – most commonly by individuals and businesses known as data brokers.
Indeed, the industry was estimated to be worth a whopping $200 billion in 2020 and is only likely to have grown in value in the interim. Data brokers hoover up information about anyone and everyone from all the sources they can lay their hands on, then sell that data on to third parties who use it for marketing purposes, to inform credit or insurance decisions or, in some cases, for illegal practices such as identity theft, fraud and blackmail.
How data brokers work
Most people are blissfully aware of just how much of their personal information is freely available in the public domain. Every time you fill out a form, apply for a license, sign up for a subscription, make an online purchase, create a digital profile, respond to a questionnaire or part with your data in some other way, it’s not always as safe as you might expect.
Data brokers will use any avenue available to them to gain access to as many tidbits of info they can, no matter how trivial or mundane they might seem. All these data points are then collated and used to create a profile of who you are, what products might appeal to you and whether or not you’re eligible for certain services.
The dark side of data brokerage
For some, data brokers might seem like a harmless middleman which unite you with targeted ads that give you products you actually want to buy. That’s perhaps the best-case scenario when it comes to data brokerage, since the outcomes can often be a lot less appealing. For example, innocuous enough activities such as browsing high-adrenaline activities or googling the symptoms of a particular syndrome could impact upon your ability to receive insurance.
Even more concerningly, not all data brokers are scrupulous over who they sell their data to – and even if they are, your information can still end up in the wrong hands through breaches and attacks. Subsequently you could find yourself the victim of doxxing, phishing emails, malware or ransomware attacks, with your privacy and your purse-strings under threat.
How to combat data brokers
The best way to prevent data brokers from selling your data to third parties is to approach them directly and request that they do not do so. Of course, with thousands of brokers in operation today, the challenge is a sizable one, but this list of opt out guides can walk you through the process. Alternatively, you could hire a professional company to send out thousands of such requests simultaneously, cutting down on the effort at your end by a substantial amount.
On the other hand, removing as much as your data from the public domain is another way to limit your own exposure. This involves refusing permission to share your data wherever applicable, paring back your social media presence, using a VPN to mask your IP address when surfing the web and browsing without cookie collection.
Data collection is such an all-encompassing industry today that it’s hard to navigate life without exposing yourself to it, but there are certain steps you can take to reduce its impact as much as possible.