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120 Data Brokers Just Registered In Vermont Under a Landmark Law (fastcompany.com)
tedlistens writes: Vermont's newly enacted data broker law is the only law of its kind in the U.S. so far, and it's forced any company collecting data on its citizens to register with the state. Fast Company wrote about the limitations of the law and compiled a list of the companies, what they do, and tips for opting-out if possible.
The Vermont law only covers third-party data firms -- those trafficking in the data of people with whom they have no relationship -- as opposed to "first-party" data holders like Amazon, Facebook, or Google, which collect their own enormous piles of detailed personal data directly from users. It doesn't require data brokers to disclose who's in their databases, what data they collect, or who buys it. Nor does it require brokers to give consumers access to their own data or opt out of data collection. Brokers are, however required to provide some information about their opt-out systems under the law -- assuming they provide one. "The registry is an expansive, alphabet soup of companies, from lesser-known organizations that help landlords research potential tenants or deliver marketing leads to insurance companies, to the quiet giants of data," reports Fast Company. "Those include big names in people search, like Spokeo, ZoomInfo, White Pages, PeopleSmart, Intelius, and PeopleFinders; credit reporting, like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion; and advertising and marketing, like Acxiom, Oracle, LexisNexis, Innovis, and KBM. Some companies also specialize in 'risk mitigation,' which can include credit reporting but also background checks and other identity verification services."
The report lists all the companies that have registered under Vermont's data broker law, with descriptions drawn from their websites or other sources where noted.
The Vermont law only covers third-party data firms -- those trafficking in the data of people with whom they have no relationship -- as opposed to "first-party" data holders like Amazon, Facebook, or Google, which collect their own enormous piles of detailed personal data directly from users. It doesn't require data brokers to disclose who's in their databases, what data they collect, or who buys it. Nor does it require brokers to give consumers access to their own data or opt out of data collection. Brokers are, however required to provide some information about their opt-out systems under the law -- assuming they provide one. "The registry is an expansive, alphabet soup of companies, from lesser-known organizations that help landlords research potential tenants or deliver marketing leads to insurance companies, to the quiet giants of data," reports Fast Company. "Those include big names in people search, like Spokeo, ZoomInfo, White Pages, PeopleSmart, Intelius, and PeopleFinders; credit reporting, like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion; and advertising and marketing, like Acxiom, Oracle, LexisNexis, Innovis, and KBM. Some companies also specialize in 'risk mitigation,' which can include credit reporting but also background checks and other identity verification services."
The report lists all the companies that have registered under Vermont's data broker law, with descriptions drawn from their websites or other sources where noted.
That was literally the dumbest rant I'll read today.
" The best solution is to END the stupid regulations that insure we don't have privacy respecting solutions in the market place. " - Ensure. Marketplace, one word.
You're a moron. Libertarians tend to be, but you've demonstrated what happens when we plumb that depth.
"I have spoken on other privacy threats like drone registration " - Lol.
Get out of America, move to Somalia, run your own libertarian fantasy world, idiot.
It's not the private companies that are a threat. It's government. .
The private companies sell to the government. They don't even have to tell you or agree that with you. In fact, even if they wanted to they couldn't.
I have control over who I do business with .
But no way of knowing who the people I do business with do business with unless regulations force them to tell me. That's what matters.
I don't do business with Facebook,
No, but Facebook does business with you. Look up "shadow profiles". Read "Data and Goliath" from Bruce Schneier. After you come back, appropriately chastened, we'll talk further.
It's not the private companies that are a threat. It's government. I have control over who I do business with provided government doesn't over regulate and interfere with what could be a free market. The problem is government, not free enterprise. I don't do business with Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and numerous other companies because I choose not to do business with privacy wrecking entities...
If you use the internet or a modern computer, you do business with damn near every one of the companies you've listed, because whether you like it or not, you are the product.
Control is an illusion.