FTC requests greater transparency, consumer control for Data Brokers

The Federal Trade Commission recently completed a study of nine data brokers in an attempt to provide the public with information about the companies that collect and use individuals’ personal information without their knowledge or permission. In the report of its findings, the FTC encouraged Congress to create laws that would require transparency through education about the existence of data brokers and the type of information they collect, as well as allowing consumers access to their own collected information for a variety of reasons. This type of legislation is necessary because there are thousands of data companies in the industry that collect data about individuals’ shopping habits, health purchases, religious affiliations, and other personal information, and then sell or share that information for use in targeted advertising. While this can be useful to some consumers, it raises red flags when it comes to privacy.* “The extent of consumer profiling today means that data brokers often know as much — or even more — about us than our family and friends, including our online and in-store purchases, our political and religious affiliations, our income and socioeconomic status and more,” said Edith Ramirez, FTC Chairwoman. “It’s time to bring transparency and accountability to bear on this industry on behalf of consumers, many of whom are unaware that data brokers even exist.” The FTC asks Congress to consider creating laws that will a) allow individuals access to their own data, b) provide the ability to for individuals to prevent data brokers from utilizing personal information, and c) require data brokers to specify the sources of the information they collect, among other things. By allowing individuals to see what information has been collected and what categories they have been placed in, it gives consumers a greater chance of correcting information that is incorrect or out of date, or of opting out of targeted advertising entirely. (Personal information would still remain in the hands of the data brokers, even if a consumer chooses to opt out of marketing services.) Two senators have already introduced the Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act to prevent brokers from acquiring information in “deceptive” ways. Currently, data brokers can collect information on individuals through their social media usage; purchasing information; registrations for a variety of organizations, affiliations and publications; and many other sources, both online and off. You can view the FTC’s entire report here. *Data brokers’ information acquisition does not violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), because brokers only gather information about health-related purchases, which are not covered under HIPAA; HIPAA only covers doctor’s offices, insurance companies, hospitals, billing companies and other entities that may specifically have information on your state of health, whereas data brokers gather information about the things you purchase in order to maintain or regulate your state of health. View the report for more information about HIPAA and data brokers. Image source: Hoboton via Free Images]]>