A data broker (also known as an information product company) is an organization that makes money by collecting your personal information, analyzing it, and licensing it out to be used by other companies for things like marketing purposes.
Data providers gather data from many different sources to create a profile of who you are. This profile includes things like your interests, hobbies, demographics, and even the products you use. Generally, data broker companies only deal with customers to collect information. A few of the top data brokerage companies are Epsilon, Acxiom, and Experian, but there are many data brokerages worldwide that make a hefty profit from aggregating and distributing consumers’ personal data.
Read more…
Source: McAfee
Related:
- Data from millions of Brazilians exposed in Wi-Fi management software firm leak
November 22, 2021
A Brazilian Wi-Fi management software firm exposed data of various high profile companies and millions of their customers. The data was leaked by WSpot, which provides software that enables businesses to secure their on-premise Wi-Fi networks and allow password-free online access to their customers. The leak was discovered by security research firm SafetyDetectives. The researchers found WSpot’s ...
- GoDaddy’s Latest Breach Affects 1.2M Customers
November 22, 2021
Web-hosting giant GoDaddy has confirmed another data breach, this time affecting at least 1.2 million of its customers. On Monday, the world’s largest domain registrar said in a public filing to the SEC that an “unauthorized third party” managed to infiltrate its systems on Sept. 6 – and that the person(s) had continued access for almost ...
- 200M Adult Cam Model, User Records Exposed in Stripchat Breach
November 16, 2021
A database containing the highly sensitive information on both users and models on the popular adult cam site StripChat were discovered online, left completely unprotected. The data exposure puts models and users at risk of extortion, violence and more. Stripchat is a popular site founded in 2016 and based in Cyprus that sells live access to ...
- Cyprus: Surveillance firm pays $1 million fine after ‘spy van’ scandal
November 13, 2021
The Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection in Cyprus has collected a $1 million fine from intelligence company WiSpear for gathering mobile data from various individuals arriving at the airport in Larnaca. While this is just an administrative fine under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is related to a scandal ...
- Dutch newspaper accuses US spy agencies of orchestrating 2016 Booking.com breach
November 11, 2021
Jointly US-Dutch owned Booking.com was illegally accessed by an American attacker in 2016 – and the company failed to tell anyone when it became aware of what happened, according to explosive revelations. The alleged miscreant, named as “Andrew”, is said to have stolen “details of thousands of hotel reservations in countries in the Middle East,” according ...
- Philippines gov takes down passport application website amid privacy leak fears
November 11, 2021
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has disabled its online passport application tracker, citing a “data privacy issue” and hinting that information could have leaked. “The DFA’s IT Unit is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding this issue and is taking appropriate measures to secure the data that may have been exposed,” states a notice on ...

