What information do data brokers collect?

Data brokers collect personal information that is available through public records, data from social media, or personal data or consumer information that can be purchased from other companies. Public records can include information about where you live, your age, your employment history, the names and ages of your family, names of people you have direct relationship with, how much you spent on your house, whether you have been married or divorced, whether you have filed for bankruptcy, and more. Census data, voter registration information, court records, motor vehicle records-all of this and more can be accessed legally by data brokers. Data brokers may acquire and aggregate information about your purchases, the coupons you use, the sweepstakes you enter, your location data, stores or brands you prefer…all of this can come from sources like loyalty cards, accounts you’ve signed up for, email offers you’ve responded to, mobile apps that you use, and other social activity. All of this is user data that can be purchased by data brokers and then provided to other companies or posted for sale on people search sites.

What are data brokers doing with your information?

Data collection isn’t necessarily helpful on its own. But there are a lot of different ways that businesses in the data broker industry can make money. A data broker can take all kinds of personal information and consumer data, and can use these to create audience segments and customer profiles that can be used for direct marketing. This is how a company might create and target advertisement specifically to consumers they think will be most likely to buy their product, based on things like age, location, previous purchase history, social media activity, etc. A data broker can provide your personal data to a company or government agency that wants to lower the risk of fraud by cross-referencing information to make sure that you are who you say you are. A data broker website might also serve as a people-search site, which can be used by anyone with internet access. Even though much of the personal data on people-search sites may be public record, it might not otherwise be readily available to the average user. The online data broker delivers aggregated information about an individual to a data user.

Is there an easy way to start opting out of information broker sites?

Yes! Discover® Online Privacy Protection is a free service available to all customers through the Discover mobile app. It reduces exposure of your personal information online by helping remove it from 10 people-search sites.

What are Data Brokers and How to Protect Your Personal Information?

Q: How do data brokers get your information?

In the United States, some data brokers collect information that’s available in public records. A third party data broker serves as an information reseller by collecting consumer data from other companies and possibly selling it to individuals or companies that want to use it for marketing purposes–or other, reasons. It’s natural to feel like the data brokerage industry must be acquiring information in questionable ways. But federal law and various privacy laws only go so far to protect consumer information. Because a lot of what you think of as personal information is actually available from public records. In addition to public records, there are other ways that data brokers collect information about you, and some of these ways have led to questions about social media and other companies’ personal data protection, data sharing, and consumer privacy practices. Posts on your social media accounts (or even “likes” or interactions with a related post), websites that you visit, online gaming activity, online quizzes that you take, mobile apps that you use, and other social activity: all of this is user data that can be used by savvy marketers to target marketing to you.

Q: How can you be protected from data brokers?

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission published a report in 2014 that recommended Congress enact legislation to give consumers more control over their personal information. If a data broker is a credit reporting agency (CRA), that data broker is subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act . The Act gives a consumer rights to access and contest the information that the CRA has on them. To be a CRA, a data broker must be used by companies who use that information to make decisions about a particular consumer’s eligibility for credit, a job, housing, etc. Most data brokers are not CRAs and are not subject to the requirements under the Act. California provides strong consumer protection regulations. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) gives more control to consumers over their personal information. California also has laws that apply directly to data brokers. All consumers in the United States can, and should, start taking control of their personal data that is available on people-search sites. This form of data brokering can be concerning, as any individual may be able to purchase personal data about anyone else. This could include location data that puts your physical safety or privacy at risk, other data points that could facilitate identity theft, and sensitive data that you may not want readily available to just anyone. You can visit the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse to learn more about data breaches, privacy law, and access the Data Brokers Database to learn where your information may be posted. Then you can visit each data broker website to opt out.

4 min read

Last Updated: August 30, 2024

Table of contents

Key Takeaways

Data brokers collect personal information about consumers from various sources and often sell it to companies and individuals.
A data broker may collect information from public records, social media, and your purchase history.
You can protect your personal information by opting out of large data broker databases and adding security protection alerts from your credit card issuer.

What is a data broker?

A data broker, data brokerage, or information broker is a company that makes money from personal data. Because of the value of your personal information, the data brokerage industry is highly lucrative to both the seller and the buyer.

Information data brokers collect data sets (information about you) from different sources and sell the data to other people or businesses. Usually, the data is personal information or sensitive information about consumers, often found through public records. Since data may provide value for organizations (like a marketing company which may use it in targeted advertising) it can be a profitable venture.

Companies make informed decisions based on your data. For example, when you apply for a credit card, the card issuer usually reviews your credit report. A credit report is a consumer report produced by a credit reporting agency—one type of data broker.

How do data brokers get your information?

Data brokers often collect information that’s readily available through public records. What’s considered public record varies from state to state but may include data points such as:

Bankruptcies
Census data
Court records
Criminal history
Insurance

Liens
Motor vehicle records
Property information
Voter registration information

Public records could also include demographic information about:

Where you live
Your age
Your employment history
Names and ages of your family

Names of people you have direct relationships with
Whether you have been married or divorced

Usually, health information isn't in your public record in the United States without special authorizations. This includes health care services you've received, immunization records, and mental health data.

Brokers may acquire and aggregate information about your purchases, the coupons you use, the sweepstakes you enter, location data, stores, or brands you prefer. All of this can come from sources like loyalty cards, accounts you’ve signed up for, email offers you’ve responded to, or mobile apps you use. This info is user data that brokers can purchase and then provide to other companies or post for sale on people search sites.

Some data broker companies serve as information resellers by collecting consumer data from one company and then selling it to another company or individual. For example, some agencies may collect info using posts on your social media account, “likes” or interactions with related posts, or track websites you visit, online gaming activity, online quizzes, mobile apps, and other social activity. This user data helps advertisers target their ads to your interests.

Did you know?

Discover gives you more control over your personal information online by regularly helping you to remove it from at least 10 people-search sites that could sell your data. It’s free, activate with the Discover app.¹

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Data privacy laws

Unfortunately, some brokerages may use less-than-ethical methods to obtain valuable personal data to turn a profit. However, federal law and various privacy laws only go so far to protect consumer information. That's why being well-informed about personal data, public records, and privacy law is essential.

What is a consumer reporting agency?

A consumer reporting agency (CRA) is a company that collects data and information about consumers, compiles consumer reports based on the data, and provides the reports to other companies. Then companies can use these reports to make educated decisions before engaging with you. Consumer reporting agencies are required to follow specific legal guidelines, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Consumer information privacy laws

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other organizations work to protect consumer privacy and help consumers gain more control over their personal information.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a consumer's personal information is legally protected, so the reporting agency must follow specific protocols when collecting and sharing consumer information, among other protections.

Some states, like California, provide strong consumer protection regulations. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) gives more control to consumers over their personal information, as explained by the State of California Department of Justice. Under the CCPA, California consumers have the right to know how someone may use the data collected about them. They also have the right to delete certain personal information. The CCPA also includes a few other rights, like the right to opt out and non-discrimination.

How to protect yourself from data brokers

All consumers in the United States can (and should) start taking control of personal data that’s available on people-search sites. Data brokering can be concerning since individuals or businesses can purchase personal data online.

Since your personal information could appear online without your knowledge or consent, cybercriminals could try to use your information to commit identity theft. That’s why it’s important to take steps to protect yourself.

With Discover, you can get an alert when any new credit card, mortgage, car loan or other account shows up on your Experian^® credit report. Activate for free.²

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Can you remove your information from data brokerage sites?

There are a few steps you can take to begin protecting yourself and remove your information from data broker sites.

Visit the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. There you can check if companies you use have suffered a data breach and review privacy laws. You can also access the Data Brokers Database to learn where your information may appear. From the database, you can visit each data broker site to opt out.

Consider removing personal info (data points) that could lead to identity theft and sensitive data that you may not want readily available to just anyone. You can also consider removing location data that could risk your physical safety or privacy.

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