How do they acquire this data?
Posted: Wed May 21, 2025 4:52 am
Their methods are broad and frequently operate without direct interaction or explicit, informed consent from the individuals whose data they are accumulating:
Public Records: This encompasses publicly accessible data like voter registration, property records, birth and marriage certificates, census information, court documents, and professional licenses.
Online Activity: Browse history, social media interactions, application usage, search queries, online purchases, and website visits (often tracked via cookies and digital fingerprinting) contribute significantly to their datasets.
Commercial Sources: Data brokers frequently acquire information from retailers, catalog companies, financial institutions, loyalty programs, and even other data brokers.
Surveys and Questionnaires: Some brokers directly collect data through surveys, quizzes, or sweepstakes, often offering incentives for participation.
Third-Party Apps and Websites: When users consent to terms of service or privacy policies that permit data sharing with "third-party partners," their information can be transferred to data brokers. Certain apps even integrate SDKs (Software Development Kits) that directly funnel user data to brokers.
Data Scraping: Automated tools are employed to south africa email list extract information from publicly available websites, directories, and online forums.
Inference: Using sophisticated algorithms, brokers can deduce or predict additional personal details (e.g., income level, health conditions, political affiliations) based on seemingly non-sensitive data.
Data Breaches: Regrettably, information stolen in data breaches and circulating on the dark web can also be acquired and integrated by some less scrupulous data brokers.
While the immediate appeal of a pre-compiled list of potential customers can be strong, utilizing email lists obtained from data brokers for marketing purposes carries substantial risks and ethical dilemmas:
Lack of Consent: This is the most critical issue. Most data brokers collect emails without the explicit, freely given, specific, and informed consent mandated by stringent privacy laws like GDPR (Europe) and CASL (Canada). Even under the CAN-SPAM Act (U.S.), which has more lenient consent requirements, using a purchased list often means you lack a direct, verifiable relationship with the recipient, thereby increasing the likelihood of spam complaints.
Demonstrable Consent: GDPR, in particular, requires you to prove consent. A data broker's assertion of consent is generally insufficient. If challenged, you would bear the burden of proof, which is almost impossible to satisfy with third-party data.
Fines and Penalties: Violations of privacy laws can result in severe financial penalties (e.g., up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover for GDPR, or CAD$10 million for CASL).
Public Records: This encompasses publicly accessible data like voter registration, property records, birth and marriage certificates, census information, court documents, and professional licenses.
Online Activity: Browse history, social media interactions, application usage, search queries, online purchases, and website visits (often tracked via cookies and digital fingerprinting) contribute significantly to their datasets.
Commercial Sources: Data brokers frequently acquire information from retailers, catalog companies, financial institutions, loyalty programs, and even other data brokers.
Surveys and Questionnaires: Some brokers directly collect data through surveys, quizzes, or sweepstakes, often offering incentives for participation.
Third-Party Apps and Websites: When users consent to terms of service or privacy policies that permit data sharing with "third-party partners," their information can be transferred to data brokers. Certain apps even integrate SDKs (Software Development Kits) that directly funnel user data to brokers.
Data Scraping: Automated tools are employed to south africa email list extract information from publicly available websites, directories, and online forums.
Inference: Using sophisticated algorithms, brokers can deduce or predict additional personal details (e.g., income level, health conditions, political affiliations) based on seemingly non-sensitive data.
Data Breaches: Regrettably, information stolen in data breaches and circulating on the dark web can also be acquired and integrated by some less scrupulous data brokers.
While the immediate appeal of a pre-compiled list of potential customers can be strong, utilizing email lists obtained from data brokers for marketing purposes carries substantial risks and ethical dilemmas:
Lack of Consent: This is the most critical issue. Most data brokers collect emails without the explicit, freely given, specific, and informed consent mandated by stringent privacy laws like GDPR (Europe) and CASL (Canada). Even under the CAN-SPAM Act (U.S.), which has more lenient consent requirements, using a purchased list often means you lack a direct, verifiable relationship with the recipient, thereby increasing the likelihood of spam complaints.
Demonstrable Consent: GDPR, in particular, requires you to prove consent. A data broker's assertion of consent is generally insufficient. If challenged, you would bear the burden of proof, which is almost impossible to satisfy with third-party data.
Fines and Penalties: Violations of privacy laws can result in severe financial penalties (e.g., up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover for GDPR, or CAD$10 million for CASL).