Parenting Pointers: Data Brokers

As the U.S. House, Senate, and the Federal Trade Commission investigate data brokers’ practices, the Direct Marketing Association launched a $1 million dollar PR campaign supporting them and seeking to prevent regulation. However, a new survey from TrustedID shows that most consumers are confused about how data brokers operate and that they want centralized control of how data brokers handle their personal information.The report,
Consumer Perspectives – Data Brokers in Review, found that 80% of consumers feel it's important to be able to opt out of distribution and sale of information, but only 20% have any idea what data brokers do. 

I had the chance to ask Scott Mitic, Chief Executive Officer of TrustedID a few questions to learn more.

1)       What is a data broker?
As TrustedID defined in its recent survey, data brokers collect information about individuals like their name address and purchasing history. They sell this information to companies who want to advertise to people with certain attributes. If you have the attributes the company is looking for, you may be on the list the data broker sells.  Consumers aren’t made aware of what lists they are on nor what information is being exchanged.

 

2)       What types of information is collected?

They collect information like your age, gender, address, income, spending habits, purchase history, and hundreds of other attributes.

 

3)      What are the risks to consumers associated with having this info collected?

This is a common question, and as our recent survey found that the majority of consumers don’t even understand what data brokers are or what information they are collecting, but that they’d like to have more information about it.

 

More often than not, being on data broker lists means that a consumer will receive more marketing materials, likely from companies that they have not previously done business with and maynot be interested in doing business with in the future.

 

The real concern for consumers is the loss of their privacy. It’s disconcerting to consumers that their information is being sold and/or  traded without their knowledge.Consumers have indicated that they  don’t know what data is being exchanged and to which parties. If this information is used improperly or ends up in the wrong hands, it may be damaging.

 

4)       How can people protect their identity in an era of data brokers?

People can opt-out of data broker services by researching the companies and submitting their information to be removed, but the process isn’t always easy.

 

Another option is to utilize MailStop Shield, a service provided by TrustedID. For $35 a year, consumers can sign up to have their information removed from data broker lists. Once they are removed, marketers will no longer be able to purchase their information. Additionally, as new data brokers emerge, TrustedID will add them to the service and automatically submit the consumers’ information to be removed from those new lists as well.

 

5)     Where can people go for more information? 
For more information about TrustedID products and services people can head to www.trustedid.com or www.catalogchoice.org.