Data brokers

Data brokers refers to the industry where companies collect information on consumers and package the data for sale to businesses or government agencies. Most commonly, data is gathered by Data brokers when people carry out activities online: purchases, web searches, social media pages, etc. The data is aggregated to create profiles on individuals; and, oftentimes, this information is analyzed and people are grouped into useful lists or categories that make the information desirable for purchase. There are three main types data broking companies: ones that create marketing, risk mitigation, or people search products. There are few laws that currently govern these companies, and ethical dilemmas have risen as a result of mass collection of personal information. Critics argue that consumers are often not aware that data broking companies are acquiring data about them, and believe that companies violate the privacy of these individuals and could potentially jeopardize the safety of consumers. There are further concerns regarding the categorization of individuals, and the potential mistreatment and repercussions that can stem from sensitive grouping.

Origins

In 1965, Gordon Moore realized the fast-paced improvement of transistors on a chip, and observed that they doubled every year from 1959-1965 This later became known as Moore's Law, which is the expectation that transistors will continue to double every two years. The cost of computing has decreased as well, allowing for the improvement of software and hardware.

The rapid advancement of more powerful computing, networking, and data storage has led to the field of Big data. Big data is the collection and analysis of large amounts of data by both government agencies and corporations. ( Richards, Neil M.; King, Jonathan H. "Big Data Ethics," Wake Forest Law Review vol. 49, no. 2 (2014): p. 393-432.;http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/wflr49&div=16&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals).). The Big Data field has allowed for the formation of the Data Broking industry. Companies began to enter the market that specialized in various types of massive data collection and analysis. This data is then sold by Data brokers to government agencies and companies, who use the information for a variety of different purposes: verifying an individual's identity, marketing products, and detecting fraud.

References

Big textAlso called Information brokers. Concept of Data Brokers: These are companies that collect information about you: names, addresses, incomes, social security number, where you go on the internet and who you connect with online and so much more. This information is sold to other companies to help with marketing, and there are few regulations governing these “data brokers”. Specifically going to talk about the ethical concerns of “data brokers” in regards to privacy. The data that we don't know is being collected and shared about us.

-samantha cohen (samcoh)