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A data broker is an individual or company that collects your personal data and sells it to other individuals or organizations.

Nowadays, it’s easy for data brokers to access all sorts of sensitive information about people, mostly due to the significant increase in Internet usage. If you’re somebody who scrolls on social media, purchases from online stores, or reads articles, it’s likely that many data brokers have accessed some of your personal information. This is partly why building cyber resilience is crucial as an online user.

Here is a closer look at how data brokers can collect and use your personal data. If you are concerned about how much of your personal information is in the hands of data brokers, use a service like Abine’s DeleteMe to get your data removed from data broker’s systems.

What Types of Information Do Data Brokers Collect?

The main types of personal information that data brokers collect include your name, address, date of birth, mobile number, email address, marital status, occupation, income, health information, shopping behaviours, political views, and personal interests.

Data brokers can collate this information to create a very detailed and unique online profile about you that is highly valuable to companies. They will be able to predict your future shopping habits and personal preferences, which they can sell to companies that will then target you with customized advertisements.

How Do Data Brokers Collect Your Personal Information?

A data broker can collect personal data in a variety of ways and collate this information to sell to third-party companies. Here are some of the most common methods of data collection used by data brokers.

Public records

Believe it or not, there is probably a lot of online data about you that is available for other people to view. This data may include birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce records, and motor vehicle records. Data brokers can access this information to build a digital profile about you to sell to others.

Social media

Your social media usage can provide data brokers with a significant amount of your personal data, including the details you choose to share on your social media profiles, your posts, and your likes and shares.

Online shopping

When you enter your personal details and card information to purchase a product online, you are opening the door for data brokers to collect this information and sell it. Data brokers will monitor your online shopping activity to learn about your buying behaviours and preferences.

Other webpages

It’s not just your online shopping activity that is monitored and analyzed by data brokers. It’s also your general Internet behaviour. Whenever you visit a website, your personal data is collected (even more so if you don’t opt out of non-essential internet cookies), and data brokers can sell these various pieces of sensitive information to other individuals or companies to make significant amounts of money.