Internet Data Brokers

Consumers are conducting more and more of their daily business online and through their mobile devices. They use the Internet and their smart phones and tablets to make purchases, research medical conditions, plan vacations, interact with friends and relatives, do their jobs, map travel routes, and otherwise pursue their interests. With these activities, consumers are creating a voluminous and unprecedented trail of data regarding who they are, where they live, and what they own. These changes have fuelled the growth of a multi-billion dollar industry that largely operates hidden from consumer view. A wide range of companies known as "data brokers" collect and maintain data on hundreds of millions of consumers, which they analyse, package, and sell generally without consumer permission or input. This book discusses the Date Broker industry in further detail, and also addresses privacy laws applicable to consumer information held by resellers, gaps in the law that may exist, and views on approaches for improving consumer data privacy.

Consumers are conducting more and more of their daily business online and through their mobile devices. They use the Internet and their smart phones and tablets to make purchases, research medical conditions, plan vacations, interact with friends and relatives, do their jobs, map travel routes, and otherwise pursue their interests. With these activities, consumers are creating a voluminous and unprecedented trail of data regarding who they are, where they live, and what they own. These changes have fueled the growth of a multi-billion dollar industry that largely operates hidden from consumer view. A wide range of companies known as "data brokers" collect and maintain data on hundreds of millions of consumers, which they analyze, package, and sell generally without consumer permission or input. This book discusses the Date Broker industry in further detail, and also addresses privacy laws applicable to consumer information held by resellers, gaps in the law that may exist, and views on approaches for improving consumer data privacy. (Imprint: Nova)

In this report, the Federal Trade Commission discusses the results of an in-depth study of nine data brokers. These data brokers collect personal information about consumers from a wide range of sources and provide it for a variety of purposes, including verifying an individual's identity, marketing products, and detecting fraud. Because these companies generally never interact with consumers, consumers are often unaware of their existence, much less the variety of practices in which they engage. By reporting on the data collection and use practices of these nine data brokers, which represent a cross-section of the industry, this report attempts to shed light on the data broker industry and its practices. For decades, policymakers have expressed concerns about the lack of transparency of companies that buy and sell consumer data without direct consumer interaction. Indeed, the lack of transparency among companies providing consumer data for credit and other eligibility determinations led to the adoption of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), a statute the Commission has enforced since its enactment in 1970. The FCRA covers the provision of consumer data by consumer reporting agencies where it is used or expected to be used for decisions about credit, employment, insurance, housing, and similar eligibility determinations; it generally does not cover the sale of consumer data for marketing and other purposes. While the Commission has vigorously enforced the FCRA, 1 since the late 1990s it has also been active in examining the practices of data brokers that fall outside the FCRA.

This open access monograph argues established democratic norms for freedom of expression should be implemented on the internet. Moderating policies of tech companies as Facebook, Twitter and Google have resulted in posts being removed on an industrial scale. While this moderation is often encouraged by governments - on the pretext that terrorism, bullying, pornography, "hate speech" and "fake news" will slowly disappear from the internet - it enables tech companies to censure our society. It is the social media companies who define what is blacklisted in their community standards. And given the dominance of social media in our information society, we run the risk of outsourcing the definition of our principles for discussion in the public domain to private companies. Instead of leaving it to social media companies only to take action, the authors argue democratic institutions should take an active role in moderating criminal content on the internet. To make this possible, tech companies should be analyzed whether they are approaching a monopoly. Antitrust legislation should be applied to bring those monopolies within democratic governmental oversight. Despite being in different stages in their lives, Anne Mette is in the startup phase of her research career, while Frederik is one of the most prolific philosophers in Denmark, the authors found each other in their concern about Free Speech on the internet. The book was originally published in Danish as Dit opslag er blevet fjernet - techgiganter & ytringsfrihed. Praise for 'Your Post has been Removed' "From my perspective both as a politician and as private book collector, this is the most important non-fiction book of the 21st Century. It should be disseminated to all European citizens. The learnings of this book and the use we make of them today are crucial for every man, woman and child on earth. Now and in the future." Jens Rohde, member of the European Parliament for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe "This timely book compellingly presents an impressive array of information and analysis about the urgent threats the tech giants pose to the robust freedom of speech and access to information that are essential for individual liberty and democratic self-government. It constructively explores potential strategies for restoring individual control over information flows to and about us. Policymakers worldwide should take heed!" Nadine Strossen, Professor, New York Law School. Author, HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship.

Covers the basic principles, operations, and internal architecture of the following internet agents: * Web-indexing spiders * Web maintenance robots * Web shoppers and bargain-finders * Worms and viruses * MUD agents and chatterbots.