Know All About Data Brokers and Their Direct Impact on Your Data

Posted on: Apr 6, 2023 | 3 mins | Written by: HDFC ERGO Team

Know All About Data Brokers and Their Direct Impact on Your Data

Since data brokers have no real motivation to engage with the individuals whose data they gather, analyse, share, and profit from, the data brokerage industry has come under scrutiny for not being transparent. Cyber security insurance plans can protect your personal data from being misused.

Understanding data brokers:

Information brokers and data brokers are sometimes used synonymously since they both mean the same. Most people are unaware that their data is even being collected because data brokers do not have a direct interaction with the individuals about whom they gather information. A lot of us click on I agree to the terms and conditions and online privacy rules. However, there is some ambiguity about the control over data that users usually consent to and the overall impact that it might have across different websites. Likewise, a lot of people are concerned about personal data protection as well.

How data brokers collect information about you

Data brokers use both online and offline modes to collect information to build a comprehensive profile. Here are some of them.

1. Consent of users:

A lot of times, users give their consent to share information while signing up for loyalty programs, which serves as a good source for data brokers.

2. Browsing history:

Your browsing history can reveal a lot of information about you, and data brokers rely heavily on this. They depend on your social media interactions, search engines, browsing for products on apps or websites, entering quizzes and competitions, accessing different websites, etc. All of these can be traced easily and help data brokers build a robust user profile. Data brokers use web scrapping as well as tracking to collect information.

3. Public sources for information:

Data brokers can collect information such as your date of birth, marriage certificates, divorce records, vehicle records, census data and others from different public sources.

4. Commercial sources for information:

They also collect information about the different products that you have purchased, along with their price and date of purchase. They also gather information about the payments, such as any coupons or loyalty points being used.

If you want to secure yourself and your personal data, opting for cyber security insurance can be a sensible option.

Also Read: Logical Ways to Protect Your Data

What type of information do data brokers collect?

Data brokers collect a myriad of information about users so as to paint a complete picture of a person. This is one of the reasons behind concerns about personal data protection. Here are some of the information being collected on you.

● Name

● Address

● Occupation

● Address of residence

● Gender

● Date of birth

● Contact number

● Email address

● Marital status

● Interests and hobbies of individuals

● Educational Qualification

● Assets

● Buying habits of individuals

● Details about the family, including the number of children and their age

Apart from the above, data brokers also have a lot of other details such as health information, details about your income, criminal history of individuals and even political views.

Using the above information, they can easily create different segments. Some common examples of segments are people who are fitness enthusiasts, new mothers, etc. And once these segments are created, they can sell the data to companies for consumption.

Though on the surface, some of these segments might seem harmless, they do contain a lot of critical information and put a huge risk to your personal data privacy. Sharing confidential information, such as HIV, can be quite unethical.

On the other hand, though data brokers have a lot of information on hand, they might not always be accurate. For example, if you buy gifts or clothes for your niece, data brokers might take you for being a parent. There are a lot of similar examples. If you place multiple orders for friends, the data brokers might perceive you as someone who shops a lot, but that might not be true.

What do they do with your data?

Data brokers sell your data for commercial purposes to various companies that are interested. Here are some examples.

1. Health insurance providers:

Data brokers collect information such as the drugs that you purchase along with other symptoms that you search for online. They can then share the information with health insurance providers. In turn, insurance providers can use the information to curate policies and premiums accordingly.

2. Marketing purposes:

A lot of businesses pay money to get personal information about you. This allows them to curate marketing offers, advertisements and other products for you. In some cases, even political parties can use the information to target specific ads.

3. Websites to search for people:

There are a few websites where you can search for people by their names. Websites such as PeekYou, Pipl, Spokeo, and PeopleSmart, among others. You can search for people and information such as their contact details, email addresses, date of birth and so on, all for free. Data brokers provide these websites with the information. And these can be used for identity theft, doxing or social engineering. Therefore, raising questions about personal data privacy.

Is data brokering legal?

If data brokers obtain the information they sell by consulting public documents, they are not engaging in criminal activity. The Information Technology Amended Act, or ITAA, of 2008 governs data protection in India, and there has been some hopeful discussion about introducing a data protection bill into law. Educating people about personal data protection is crucial.

Steps to protect yourself from data brokers

If you are concerned about your personal data protection, there are a few ways by which you can do this. For starters, you can reach out to data brokers and ask them not to collect data on you, which is a lengthy process. Alternatively, you can pay other companies to remove information on you.

By putting in a bit of effort, you can find out about data brokers and access their privacy policies. From there, you can use the steps to opt-out. However, it must be done regularly and might not be a one-time process. There are a few companies, like DeleteMe and PrivacyDuck, which can help you delete all the data collected on you. In conjunction, cyber security insurance can make your life easier, if any of the data were to be misused.

Conclusion

Above is everything that you need about data brokers and how to remain safe from them. In current cyberspace, there are a lot of risks and potential hazards, given the easy accessibility to data. Therefore, making an even stronger case for buying cyber security insurance.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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