Gathering Billions Of Pieces Of Data On Americans

[Monroe]

Doesn't seem to be the NSA but the data may end up there anyway ... sooner or later. What right do these companies have to collect personal information and then sell it for a profit? We get no money or royalties from the collecting.

 

 

Brokers Use ‘Billions’ Of Data Points To Profile Americans

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/brokers-use-billions-of-data-points-to-profile-americans/2014/05/27/b4207b96-e5b2-11e3-a86b-362fd5443d19_story.html

 

Data brokers that quietly gather billions of pieces of data on Americans should be required to operate more openly, so that those categorized as “financially challenged” or possibly suffering from serious medical conditions have the ability to check and challenge those characterizations, a federal report said Tuesday.

 

The data broker industry, which is lightly regulated, develops profiles of hundreds of millions of people using online and offline sources, such as magazine subscriptions, visits to Web sites, posting on social networking services and purchase histories, the Federal Trade Commission reported. The information sold to marketers can list race, income and homeownership.

 

Categories used to label consumers include “Bible Lifestyle,” “Smoker in Household” and “New Age/Organic Lifestyle,” the report said. One category, called “Rural Everlasting,” describes people of retirement age who have “low educational attainment and low net worths.”

 

FTC officials, who based their report on documents gathered by issuing subpoenas to nine data brokers in December 2012, expressed concern about how the data is collected, how it’s used and the potential for making errors that are kept secret from the consumers themselves.

 

“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 FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “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.”

 

No evidence of illegal activity was described in the report, though the FTC cited the potential for abuse when data brokers gather information about health-related issues. Among the health data collected, the report said, was whether a household contained an allergy sufferer or a person concerned about weight loss or cholesterol. One category was “Diabetes Interest.”

 

Stuart P. Ingis, general counsel for the Direct Marketing Association, which represents nearly 2,000 companies that collect and distribute consumer data, said that the FTC investigation failed to reveal actual cases of abuse of personal information. “You’d think if there was a real problem, they’d be able to talk about something other than potential.”

...

Edited May 27, 2014 by monroe

[Flasche]

Doesn't seem to be the NSA but the data may end up there anyway ... sooner or later. What right do these companies have to collect personal information and then sell it for a profit? We get no money or royalties from the collecting.

 

 

Brokers Use ‘Billions’ Of Data Points To Profile Americans

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/brokers-use-billions-of-data-points-to-profile-americans/2014/05/27/b4207b96-e5b2-11e3-a86b-362fd5443d19_story.html

 

Data brokers that quietly gather billions of pieces of data on Americans should be required to operate more openly, so that those categorized as “financially challenged” or possibly suffering from serious medical conditions have the ability to check and challenge those characterizations, a federal report said Tuesday.

 

The data broker industry, which is lightly regulated, develops profiles of hundreds of millions of people using online and offline sources, such as magazine subscriptions, visits to Web sites, posting on social networking services and purchase histories, the Federal Trade Commission reported. The information sold to marketers can list race, income and homeownership.

 

Categories used to label consumers include “Bible Lifestyle,” “Smoker in Household” and “New Age/Organic Lifestyle,” the report said. One category, called “Rural Everlasting,” describes people of retirement age who have “low educational attainment and low net worths.”

 

FTC officials, who based their report on documents gathered by issuing subpoenas to nine data brokers in December 2012, expressed concern about how the data is collected, how it’s used and the potential for making errors that are kept secret from the consumers themselves.

 

“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 FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “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.”

 

No evidence of illegal activity was described in the report, though the FTC cited the potential for abuse when data brokers gather information about health-related issues. Among the health data collected, the report said, was whether a household contained an allergy sufferer or a person concerned about weight loss or cholesterol. One category was “Diabetes Interest.”

 

Stuart P. Ingis, general counsel for the Direct Marketing Association, which represents nearly 2,000 companies that collect and distribute consumer data, said that the FTC investigation failed to reveal actual cases of abuse of personal information. “You’d think if there was a real problem, they’d be able to talk about something other than potential.”

...

 

To name the 2 biggest (IMO) Google, and Facebook

[ROTS]

And that is why a person can never get hired fast using an online job application. They have your social, your address, your phone number, I wonder what they could find out. It seems like the only normal work, is construction, food server, public employee, or unskilled labor. Every other work out their, that requires anything is coming from funds from one of those people, by foolishly paying the people who uses online job applications. They make everything difficult.

To even make a long story short, for managers, they are calling them shift leaders. Meaning a 14 year old could be a shift leader. For non degree employee, they have have to keep getting a fresh new certificate, like you have to keep getting a new sticker on your car, in most places, after inspection. You can't even inter-fear in anything that is outside of your duty.

I think every time somebody fills out something, they answer those god forsaken questions. They compare the questions to the person, in the database. So that profiles builds up. The only reason you can get through if your mindless employee, attitude, fits their status quota.

Edited May 31, 2014 by ROTS