One thing they all have in common is that they have no concern for an individual's privacy
North American data brokers are selling profiles and other information about nearly three billion "actively pregnant" or "shopping for maternity products" women around the world.
According to an investigation, 32 separate brokers are offering access to mobile IDs of people who, according to their broker-built profiles, appear to be pregnant or buying things as if they are. That is, individuals' automatically assigned identities are sold so that they can be targeted with precise advertisements. You could, for example, purchase a large number of IDs that fit a set of criteria and then ensure that ad networks display your adverts to those devices.
According to an investigation that discovered 32 distinct brokers providing access to mobile IDs of persons who, according to their broker-built profiles, appear pregnant or buying things as if they were. That is, individuals' automatically issued identities are being sold for them to be targets of precise advertisements. For example, you could purchase many IDs that fit a set of criteria and then ensure that ad networks display your ads to those devices.
Gizmodo adds that in addition to the 2.9 billion profiles already mentioned, there are an additional 478 million profiles for sale that belong to clients who are "interested in pregnancy" or "intending to become pregnant." It is important to note that various databases overlap, and Gizmodo acknowledges that it is unclear exactly how many different people's data are available for purchase.
According to Lynn Raynault, co-founder and president of the digital privacy firm Hush, there are approximately 1,200 data brokers operating in the US.
The number one common data broker trait is that they have zero regard for the privacy of the individuals they collect data on and most often have no regard for who purchases that information.
All 32 companies were listed in the study, along with their data sources for 19 of them. Self-reported polls, geolocations, mobile app downloads, open records, social media data, purchases, and internal data analysis by the companies are some of the sources used.
One business, AlikeAudience, claims to gather "information from multiple sources such as users' downloads of mobile apps & utilization, geolocations, public records such as POI and self-declared information" and is allegedly offering access to roughly 61 million iOS users at a "pregnancy and maternity life stage."
According to the study, the broker may tell if a consumer is in a pregnant period of life if they use a credit card from AlikeAudience to purchase maternity wear, for instance.
Pregnancy tests and/or "female contraceptives" are purportedly among the 9.6 million iPhone and Android device users whose data another business, Quotient, promises to sell. This company, which was originally known as Coupons.com, has direct access to information about the products—contraceptives and other—that customers are downloading coupons for and subsequently purchasing.
In response to Roe being overturned, a number of new proposals proposed by senators would make it unlawful for data brokers to sell sensitive location and health information concerning medical treatment and private information that fertility apps capture, such as when a person ovulates or engages in sex.
The Federal Trade Commission has additionally warned businesses that it will pursue legal action against corporations that sell this kind of personal data without providing enough privacy measures.
References:
- These Companies Know When You're Pregnant—And They're Not Keeping It Secret