As more of our personal data is collected online, privacy concerns have increased. With a few clicks, we share intimate details about ourselves. However, most people are unaware of how widely their data spreads. Behind the scenes is an entire industry of data brokers that profits off of our digital footprints. Data brokers are businesses or individuals who collect and sell people’s personal information, including phone details and browsing behavior. In this post, we will look at how data brokers operate and some critical steps we can take to protect our personal information better.
Data Collection
Data brokers obtain data from many public and commercial sources. They can easily collect information through websites and applications without your knowledge by paying app developers to include SDKs (software development kits) inside their apps.
Various permissions granted to apps, like access to contacts or location, can then be recorded by the data broker’s SDKs. They can also directly pay app owners to get the information without having to install the software kits.
Another way of gathering information is through public records, such as voter registration, birth certificates, marriage licenses, census data, and divorce records. The Internet is also a rich source of information. Data brokers can collect personal details from things like the posts someone has made or interacted with on social platforms, quizzes they’ve completed online, contests they’ve entered virtually, or websites they’ve browsed.
Data Usage
Some main ways customer data is used include targeting online ads based on purchase history to make ads more relevant. Data brokers can tell advertisers what brands a person has bought and when they may nee ..
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