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What Data Mining Firms Know About You
storagedude writes "Time writer Joel Stein spent three months learning what data mining companies know about him. After learning everything the companies had profiled about him (some of it inaccurate) — social security number, age, marital status, religion, income, debt, interests, browsing and spending habits — he had a surprising reaction: complacency. '... oddly, the more I learned about data mining, the less concerned I was. Sure, I was surprised that all these companies are actually keeping permanent files on me. But I don't think they will do anything with them that does me any harm. There should be protections for vulnerable groups, and a government-enforced opt-out mechanism would be great for accountability. But I'm pretty sure that, like me, most people won't use that option. Of the people who actually find the Ads Preferences page — and these must be people pretty into privacy — only 1 in 8 asks to opt out of being tracked. The rest, apparently, just like to read privacy rules."
I don't trust any company is goal is to make a profit. Full stop.
Sure, I was surprised that all these companies are actually keeping permanent files on me. But I don't think they will do anything with them that does me any harm.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!
Dear Hitler, I'm Jewish and I would like to opt-out of your anti-semitism movement. Thanks!
well done
They know that I am female, 16, blond, my email address is billg@microsoft.com, and that I might not always be completely truthful in filling out web forms!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Of the people who actually find the Ads Preferences page — and these must be people pretty into privacy — only 1 in 8 asks to opt out of being tracked.
That's probably because people who are into privacy know that opting out will most likely show up in somebody else's DB as another data point, i.e. somebody who's concerned about privacy.
Personally I'm more comfortable using no script, adlock plus, proxies, etc.
^^vv<><>BA
The problem isn't what the data mining companies would do with the data, themselves. I don't think it's even with what companies who buy their services would do, frankly...although I know that on Slashdot that may not be a widely-held or even popular belief. What's dangerous is that the data mining companies also provide data to the government. And why is that? Because the data mining companies collect and compile data that our government is forbidden from collecting directly without having to get legal authorization (like a warrant, for example). It's a workaround that circumvents controls meant to protect the privacy of individuals from their own rulers. Of course, I'm speaking from the perspective of someone in the USA; when it comes to civil rights, your mileage may vary.
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
I'm am shocked by this. Everyone has done such a great job keeping their personal information private. Not using a SSN when unnecessary, not filling out random forms on the internet with personal information to win a free iPod. And everyone is smart with the type of information they post on social networking sites. I just don't see how this type of business model could even exist!
The question shouldn't be what they know, but rather how they know it. I looked myself up on one of the better known data mining sites and I was surprised at how much they knew about me. They had my address, my (approximate) age, my marital status, the number of people in my house, and a few other things that don't come to mind for me immediately.
However, they came up with all of that without using facebook (as I don't have a facebook account) or a phone book (as we have never had a land line at our house). This seems to imply that they get a lot of the information from the government, but I can't verify that.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
What is this, propaganda by the data mining companies?
I have no problem with them having my info (after all, it's gun ownership, not laws, that protect us from the rise of Hitler in our country). And if I have to see ads I prefer targeted ones.
But what happens if one of these companies gets hacked and, as a result, someone uses my name and ssn for things that harm my credit score? My company's human resources department is scared stiff about accidentally disclosing that type of info in a security breech. And I imagine the same is true for companies who have it because I'm a customer of theirs. But do these companies have the same legal responsibilities to protect data about me? If not, they should.
And more importantly, we need laws that help track down the source of identity theft so I can hold such companies accountable. Something like any company who collects personal information on American citizens must register with some federal bureau and list what they collect. Victims of identity theft should be able to request what information any company in the list has on them, as well as a list of when, how, and to whom it was disclosed.
The threat isn't what they are going to do with your data; it is the potential that it presents.
Sure, there is no reason why they are going to one day say, "Hey! Let's look at So-and-so's record and see what we can do to him as a result."
However, what can happen is that one day you become a "person of interest" to someone somewhere for some reason (quite possibly entirely by mistake). Then you can expect that that entity is going to buy all the data they can on you and sift through every detail of it.
And don't forget that once this data exists, it pretty much never goes away. Terabytes are incredibly cheap these days, and data companies most likely invest in lots of backup and redundancy.
P.S. For kicks, also think about what may happen if such a company gets hacked. Enjoy.
start covertly using this data. They could do large amounts of damage "We're sorry, you eat fast food 4 days a week. You get charged a lard ass surcharge. Sure you only weight 170 lbs, but you're still at risk..."
UPS Sucks
(after all, it's gun ownership, not laws, that protect us from the rise of Hitler in our country).
Like Libya ? run by a despot ?
the citizens have guns , lots of guns, but as they have learnt to their demise what the citizens have is no match for what the military has/is using
Now I feel better
Things have gotten so bad I'm wearing security breeches and suspenders!
<xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
But I don't think they will do anything with them that does me any harm
Which part about social security number, age, marital status, religion, income, debt, interests, browsing and spending habits did he not understand. All that info would give someone a sure fire way to steal their identity.
Okay, Mr. Stein, let's assume that all those companies have your information, and won't do anything nefarious with it.
Now, how many of those companies do you think actually keep that information secure? At how many of those companies could you just walk off with data? How many would allow you to view this data with an afternoon's worth of crafting an SQL injection?
Answer: As the number of companies with your data increases, the probability approaches 100%.
And when someone--probably malicious--does get your data... Then what?
They now have your "social security number, age, marital status, religion, income, debt, interests, browsing and spending habits".
And guess what they can do with this information.
Anything.
Data mining companies have already deduced from your slashdot ID's that you're probably still a virgin!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Better would be laws that made it more difficult for banks and other financial institutions to try to hold a third party responsible when they are the victims of fraud.
The really nice thing about such laws is that someone having your name and "secret" number probably wouldn't be able to use it to open an account, so it wouldn't be such a problem that the number isn't at all a secret.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Oh, contraire. Trust is everything. Even if you trust a corporation not to directly misuse information they have on you, do you trust them to keep it safe? Or might they sell it to others without your knowledge, who you don't know whether to trust or not? Or trust them not to be hacked, and have your information fall into hands you definitely shouldn't trust?
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
From mining my slashdot account, one would conclude that I talk about porn... a lot. But what the data mining doesn't account for is that, like most of my posts, it is in the context of trying to make a joke and get a +1 Funny mod.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
I for one thought it was a very interesting article. I encourage you all to actually read it.
I particularly liked the part about Google's separation of data. Its an interesting look at the way that company, who's efforts are all funded by our personal data, is run. Nice peek inside a world I wouldn't get to see otherwise.
Actually a random thought just occurred to me, if everyone was as concerned about privacy as slashdotters, would Google still have been successful enough to launch Android? Without personal data Google doesn't have a source of income. Without money, no R&D dollars for things not strictly related to their core business.
at the end of each paragraph.
Like anyone can even know that
I don't bother opting out of web sites, because quite frankly I can't even count how many web sites that might be, and I can count pretty high. Nor do I want to spend the rest of my life filling out those forms. Nor is there any semblance of a guarantee that any of these web sites honor these opt out requests. Can you take them to court if they violate it? How would you even know if they violated it? What's needed is some intelligent laws, and some accountability. If I could go to a government web site and register, much like I do today for the do not call list, then I'd be there.
"after all, it's gun ownership, not laws, that protect us from the rise of Hitler in our country"
I'd argue that guns have little to do with this, as does user information. In Nazi Germany, people were misled into thinking they were in the right. The Germans aren't/weren't evil people. They are people like everywhere else, and people are easily manipulates/misled. That's why the "fair and balanced" media scares me. All you have to do to get people to comply with unspeakable horrors is convince them they are fighting for a just cause.
Like the NRA saying goes, guns don't kill people, people kill people. Likewise, guns don't inherently bring justice, people protect justice. But if the people are already subverted, guns mean nothing (nothing good, at least). You have to remember that governments don't march into cities shooting people or rolling over them with tanks. Soldiers do. And Egypt has proven that if the soldiers do not believe in the cause, they will not comply with the order.
I don't think this little social networking thing has much to do with the real issue: corporations and the media (read: the rich) can whip people into a frenzy because with or without user data culled from the web, because they know what motivates people. Concern over your facebook profile is just a distraction.
blah blah blah
Having recently lost over 60 lbs, I began receiving direct mail offers from both Weight Watchers and Ben& Jerry's
It's not what they know about me that is true that bothers me. It is what they know about me that isn't true. Ultimately, the problem with this type of database is not that they know too much about people (although there are significant problems with that as well), it s what they "know" about people that is false that causes problems.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
As others have commented, I too don't like how easily they can get information that could be used to steal my identity, nor do I trust how well they would protect my information. I think all that just makes it that much easier for criminals to get the same information.
But mostly, I just feel saddened that so many resources are being used to try to separate me from $10 here or $100 there to funnel into corporate profits, rather than being used to better educate children, or help with medical research. Things which would really make this a better world for everyone.
I guess I'm just so tired of the pro-corporate mentality (seemingly at any cost of individual freedoms) here in the US.
Uh oh! They just got my location. Grab the foil hat!
I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it. -- Groucho Marx
I might not always be completely truthful in filling out web forms!
That doesn't help you much. If you are a real adult with a mortgage, credit card, a deed, and some other public records, they can sell all of that "real world" information about you.
Sure, I'm a 14 y.o. girl who likes ponies. But I'm also a guy with a house and a job that creates a public trail. It's just a matter of time till they can merge the two.
California DMV will not sell that info. In the wake of the Reecca Schaeffer murder, it became illegal for the CA DMV to sell private addresses.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
not surprised that he writes for TIME, that learned journal. but telling us not to worry makes him an asshole, as well.
*
how can you be complacent learning that companies you don't do business with are keeping records on you of who you've done business with, and also knowing that hackers can hack into anything they want? "here's a good target: that company who keeps databases with all the information on everybody."
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
... and I can count pretty high.
Maybe it has to do with my starting point...
Aleph-Null bottles of beer on the wall, aleph-null bottles of beer...
...
take one down and pass it around, Aleph-Null bottles of beer on the wall.
I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it. -- Groucho Marx
It is the thieves. Lackadaisical security + credit card number on file = massive fraud.
I worked for a company whose billing department kept an .XLS with their customers SSN and billing information on a public share drive. The billing people just didn't care. But it wasn't the billing department that was going to commit the fraud - it was some other random untraceable person who stumbles onto the share drive.
So, someone who has chosen to spend their career in the public view, often expressing personal opinions and anecdotes in what they hope will be a widely read press doesn't have a problem with people knowing a lot about him. Big shock!
There are those of us out there, however, who don't feel the need to broadcast our navel gazing (at least with our names attached to it) - perhaps we might have a different opinion on how happy one should be with this amount of private information being known...
I meant the sig to be a joke about batshit-crazy people, but after posting I realized it probably looks like an anti-gun comment about your sig, which I did not intend it to be.
I get your sig that it's the bs-c people.
I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it. -- Groucho Marx
The biggest down side to this type of data aggregation is that it won't lead to decreased advertisements directed at people that either, completely ignore all adds, or never/infrequently purchase anything advertised to them.
... if they did a health profile based on his eating and smoking habits and he got his insurance raised. Or denied.
Okay, unusual situation. I'm transgendered. While my legal name change wont be in effect till next month I have used facebook and other sites like that to create a history for my new name rather then having it look like i was suddenly someone else. They want data, i feed them crap. Hope they are happy.
--- Always remember. 99.36% of all statistics are inaccurate.
And more importantly, we need laws that help track down the source of identity theft so I can hold such companies accountable. Something like any company who collects personal information on American citizens must register with some federal bureau and list what they collect. Victims of identity theft should be able to request what information any company in the list has on them, as well as a list of when, how, and to whom it was disclosed.
Yeap, definitely. Is a win-win situation: an overzealous bureaucrat (say, in "Homeland security dept"?) will know where to go for extra information on you without spending too much of your tax.
Except... it may be you to spend your money on lawyers - if you'll be permitted to have one - but the govt and data miners will be in the win.
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
Things have gotten so bad I'm wearing security breeches and suspenders!
It's getting expensive already, eh?
"You were private by default and public by effort. Nowadays, you're public by default and private by effort," says Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
the problem is not what they could potentially do to your person but the info they gather about individuals that may conduce to statistical inferences from a certain population. Did anybody ever hear talk about multivariate analysis or regression models.
Etsy.com has recently made all users' real names and purchase history available on the web. They can be searched from google (I checked). They are also refusing to contact buyers to alert them to this change. They do allow names to be changed, but only with a two day waiting period. There is a thread on their forum about it herehttp://www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/6811996/page/1 where they have refused to respond to serious concerns for customer privacy. Since Etsy is refusing to notify its' members, please help me get the word out to them by posting on your website. Thank you.
But nobody will know it was 'you.'
Mod Me Up. You'll make a grown man cry.
If you paid $1000 for a laptop then it was a $1000 laptop you dumb fool.
Here, I've got a stick of chewing gum worth $480 but only $250 to you. Come on, place your order, you're dumb enough.
"I trust them..." every marketeer and salesman on the planet swoons when they hear that one.
I fully intended to opt out of everything on PrivacyChoice.org, but as they seem to think I'm male, I am suddenly less concerned.
However, it is disheartening that someone who is interested in science, news, electronics, and combat sports is just automatically assumed to be male. Then again, as always, this is slashdot....
Neat post -
I'm only a low-grade prophet - not good enough to start my own religion. More like "gee, I knew someone one who said something... ooh look, a new episode of Secrets Of Our Lives is on!" I didn't see Facebook coming either even though we knew MySpace was dead.
I can't see ahead to the Next Big Thing that people like/Like. Anyone really think they know what the Next Big Thing after Facebook is?
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Isn't this the same issue raised here http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/09/1332202/Ask-Slashdot-Privacy-Paranoiaare we going to start dismissing the value of privacy twice a week now?
But... the future refused to change.
But wait until you fall behind on a car payment. I used to work for a financing company, and we had access to these databases. Not only does it have the information above, but we could also match up your neighbors, relatives (no idea how they figure that out), and your "associates" (people you've been in business with, etc.). When you fell behind, and then refuse to pick up the phone, we start using these databases to find other addresses and phone numbers we should try. You'll feel a little less complacent about all this data when it's being used against you in this way.