Tell the CFPB: Don’t let data brokers buy and sell our personal info
From wishlists to gifts you buy, while you shop online this season data brokers are buying and selling your information. Let's tell them to stop snooping.
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This Black Friday, many people will comb the internet in search of limited deals and holiday presents. But one of the hottest products on sale this black Friday isn’t something you buy at Amazon. It’s the treasure trove of data that consumers leave behind each time they browse the internet, data about spending habits, gender, location, etc.
All that data is worth billions of dollars, and the internet user doesn’t get any say in how his or her data is used.
As you shop on Black Friday, websites will record your account’s every click. But even sites where you don’t have an account can still track your browsing history using bits of code called “cookies.”
The amount of data being taken from consumers is mind-boggling. A recent report found that one broker had about 3,000 data points on nearly every internet user in America.
Some users might not mind the idea of being tracked online. After all, targeted ads can be convenient and lots of people don’t feel like they have anything to hide. But there’s a dark side to the data market.
Scammers love to use consumer data in order to make their deceptions more convincing. In 2022, three data brokers were caught knowingly selling scammers the data of more than 30 million Americans. The brokers then helped the scammers identify elderly Americans who might be vulnerable to exploitation.
Even legitimate businesses can use data for unwelcome purposes. Targeted ads might seem convenient, but they can also trap internet users in harmful patterns of consumption. People struggling with addictions could get recurring beer and alcohol ads, or those struggling to pay bills might be bombarded with promotions from profiteering moneylenders.
Internet users have no control over any of these transactions. The more data, like passwords, social security numbers, or personal details that a person has out on the internet, the easier it is for that data to be stolen, leaked or sold.
The big problem with the online data market is that it’s completely unregulated. The main relevant privacy law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, passed in 1970, before the internet was more than a twinkle in a few tech whizzes’ eyes.
Fortunately, there are ways we can update privacy for the 21st century. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) has a proven record helping consumers be it with unfair loans, junk fees, or other exploitative practices.
Now, we want to encourage the CFBP to stop companies from collecting unnecessary data about Americans and using it however they like.
Take a minute to join us in action to stop our data from being the biggest seller this holiday season.
R.J. focuses on data privacy issues and the commercialization of personal data in the digital age. Her work ranges from consumer harms like scams and data breaches, to manipulative targeted advertising, to keeping kids safe online. In her work at Frontier Group, she has authored research reports on government transparency, predatory auto lending and consumer debt. Her work has appeared in WIRED magazine, CBS Mornings and USA Today, among other outlets. When she’s not protecting the public interest, she is an avid reader, fiction writer and birder.