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Companies That Profit From Your Data
forbes.com — And you thought your data was safe? Think again. These companies are making money from your private data
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- dtele, on 05/18/2008, -0/+32Everyone makes money out of me...except ME !
- DangerCollie, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1And we could change the dynamic as easily as making data about you your intellectual property. Which you could choose to license to companies to use or withdraw that permission. We are at the point when it's time to reconsider the definition of public information. When data follows you around the rest of your life, you should have some control over who sees it and under what circumstances. No company should get to see your credit report unless you give them express permission. It should be opt out default instead of opt in default. I haven't applied for credit for years and froze my credit reports. That should be the default instead of something I had to fight to get accomplished.
- diggit08, on 05/18/2008, -5/+12How do you "accidentily" sell such information to identity thieves, and only get a fine? If it was owned by a minority they would have gotten 5-10 for aiding and abeiting.
- jdaniel284, on 05/18/2008, -2/+4No, if it was owned by a minority, they would have received a preferential government contract.
- curseoflou, on 05/18/2008, -0/+12"And you thought your data was safe?"
Nope - d05k, on 05/18/2008, -0/+6"In 2005, the company revealed that it had accidentally sold 145,000 individuals' records to a cyber criminal identity theft ring, resulting in a $15 million fine from the Federal Trade Commission."
Yes.. accidentally sold those identities to the highest bidder - clickwir, on 05/18/2008, -0/+21Can't Forbes create just a regular article? I don't like these "self advancing" slides *****. I shouldn't have to hit a stop/pause button to read something, just put it all on one page and be done with it.
- Herolint, on 05/18/2008, -0/+3I second your dislike of Forbes slideshow buffoonery.
- mayhemt, on 05/18/2008, -3/+1here's a small google hack (some may already know): google for your phone & most probably you will get a result of phonebook with complete name & address (provided its listed)
- ufia, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Here's another google hack (the FBI may track you down for doing this): google for a company name and you will get a link pointing to their web site. Scary isn't it? Use at your own risk, you didn't heard it from me.
- skeeterbug84, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1You mean google caches online phone books? No way!
- ufia, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Here's another google hack (the FBI may track you down for doing this): google for a company name and you will get a link pointing to their web site. Scary isn't it? Use at your own risk, you didn't heard it from me.
- lazlonger, on 05/18/2008, -1/+2So typical that an article like this is found in page view whore format causing multiple page loads for maximum profits by the host.
buried as asinine. - eq2s, on 05/18/2008, -0/+8Expand this comment for all the text of the article on one page instead of an automatic slide show.
- eq2s, on 05/18/2008, -0/+13Web users have gotten used to the idea that Google is watching their every move, carefully noting their habits and history to better target ads. But Google is just one of the more visible companies that treat personal details as a valuable commodity. Lesser-known businesses like Acxiom and Choicepoint not only collect detailed data about hundreds of millions of people, but they assemble it without those individuals' knowledge, gleaning it from publicly available documents as well as more private sources. And background check search engines, such as Intelius and US Search go even further, packaging up personal details and selling them on the Web. Here's a look at who makes money by knowing your private details--and at how private those details are kept.
Acxiom
With detailed records on hundreds of millions of people, data aggregators like Acxiom are in the business of buying and selling personal information, a trade that accounts for the majority of company's $1.3 billion per year business. Acxiom sells marketers data that it collects from public sources like real estate documents, criminal records and census data, as well as more private sources like credit card applications, warranty card surveys and magazine subscriptions. The company's chief privacy officer, Jennifer Barrett, says the company follows strict guidelines to prevent that data from falling into the wrong hands--except, of course, when a hacker steals 1.6 billion records, as happened in 2002 and 2003.
Choicepoint
Choicepoint, another of the world's largest data aggregation businesses, shares Acxiom's model of collecting data and selling it to marketers. It's also shared Acxiom's vulnerability to data breaches: In 2005, the company revealed that it had accidentally sold 145,000 individuals' records to a cyber criminal identity theft ring, resulting in a $15 million fine from the Federal Trade Commission.
Reed Elsevier
Reed Elsevier's subsidiary, Lexis-Nexis, is often thought of as a collection of media clips and legal documents. But a premium version of Lexis Nexis offers up a wider variety of aggregated public information including criminal and housing records. Another branch of the company known as its Risk and Information Analytics Group tracks detailed personal information for corporate fraud prevention and other risks. In February 2008, Reed Elsevier announced its intention to acquire Choicepoint for $4.1 billion, a deal that would combine the data broker with Lexis-Nexis and create an unprecedented library of private data, primarily about Americans.
Intelius
Intelius' store of personal data and search algorithm powers the "people-search" functions on more than a thousand Web sites, according to Ed Petersen, one of the site's founders. Petersen wouldn't comment on where Intelius gets its data, but it includes real estate details, salary information, criminal records and employment history. Until this past February, Intelius also included cell phone numbers. That data was removed following protests from privacy groups. The site, which received 8.5 million unique visitors in March, according to the Web traffic analysis firm comScore, does let users request that their personal information be deleted, if they write or fax a request. But when something relevant changes in your life--say, you move--your information may pop up again in Intelius's database, according to the site's privacy policy.
US Search
A competitor to Intelius, US Search collects publicly available data and packages it up to power many of the Web's people-focused search engines. It may also be buying private data; its privacy policy alludes to purchasing information pulled from warranty cards. US Search received 6.6 million unique visitors in March, according to comScore. While US Search allows users to remove that data from its search engine by writing to the company, it warns that any publicly available data will remain in its database.
Google
For many users, there's little Google doesn't know about your online life. To better target ads at users, the search giant tracks and stores search trails for 18 months before anonymizing the data. It has also slowly been adding new services that give it increasing access to the details of users' activities. The site's e-mail service, RSS reader and online payment service, along with other software-as-a-service offerings, all help it to assemble more effective ad-targeting data. But in terms of data collection, none of those offerings compares to Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of online ad firm DoubleClick. By buying that company last year, Google gained the ability to track users beyond their initial search, including much of their behavior on any site hosting DoubleClick's ads.
Microsoft
In its bid to compete with Google on the Web, Microsoft has been following many of the search giant's data collection moves to better hone its ads. Like Google, it stores records of all user searches--a practice that became especially clear when it turned over search records to government prosecutors in a child pornography lawsuit in January 2007. Mirroring Google's acquisition of DoubleClick, Microsoft also acquired an interactive advertising firm, aQuantive, about a year ago, giving it far more insight into users' online activities. Despite Microsoft's failed bid for Yahoo!, rumors of the software giant's intention to acquire a major Web portal could further boost Microsoft's level of Web user data to Google-like proportions.
Facebook
Make no mistake: Facebook's $15 billion valuation is based on the promise that social networks will soon be a rich source of information for ad targeting. Every third-party application flocking to Facebook adds more than page views; it also builds on Facebook's knowledge of users' interests and activities. Most important, Facebook has unique insight around how users are socially connected--hence its recently launched Beacon advertising program, designed to exploit those connections by broadcasting users' purchases to their friends as endorsements. - Crazy_8, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2Excellent use of the comment system there to hide all the text unless wanted.
- eq2s, on 05/18/2008, -0/+13Web users have gotten used to the idea that Google is watching their every move, carefully noting their habits and history to better target ads. But Google is just one of the more visible companies that treat personal details as a valuable commodity. Lesser-known businesses like Acxiom and Choicepoint not only collect detailed data about hundreds of millions of people, but they assemble it without those individuals' knowledge, gleaning it from publicly available documents as well as more private sources. And background check search engines, such as Intelius and US Search go even further, packaging up personal details and selling them on the Web. Here's a look at who makes money by knowing your private details--and at how private those details are kept.
- CDoug03, on 05/18/2008, -0/+5I just love how companies can profit by not actually doing anything but collecting. It's like they are all stuck in a video game doing the collect useless ***** mission until Jebus comes again.
- archerOFloaf, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2Crazy pop up wouldn't let me read it. Buried.
- TheDiggAbides, on 05/18/2008, -3/+1and I for one welcome our new conglomerate overlords
- JRRivera, on 05/18/2008, -0/+4I HATE SLIDE SHOWS!!!
Other than that, it's great to know that I'm being sold to everyone..now I know where spam comes from. Does anyone think that WEB 2.0 will be any better? - maxhrk, on 05/18/2008, -1/+4maybe i should make a deal with company 'if you make money from my private data, i get 10% out of your profit.' deal. Just a strange thought.
- dilbertmouse, on 05/18/2008, -5/+3ACXIOM
With detailed records on hundreds of millions of people, data aggregators like Acxiom are in the business of buying and selling personal information, a trade that accounts for the majority of company's $1.3 billion per year business. Acxiom sells marketers data that it collects from public sources like real estate documents, criminal records and census data, as well as more private sources like credit card applications, warranty card surveys and magazine subscriptions. The company's chief privacy officer, Jennifer Barrett, says the company follows strict guidelines to prevent that data from falling into the wrong hands--except, of course, when a hacker steals 1.6 billion records, as happened in 2002 and 2003.
CHOICEPOINT
Choicepoint, another of the world's largest data aggregation businesses, shares Acxiom's model of collecting data and selling it to marketers. It's also shared Acxiom's vulnerability to data breaches: In 2005, the company revealed that it had accidentally sold 145,000 individuals' records to a cyber criminal identity theft ring, resulting in a $15 million fine from the Federal Trade Commission.
REED ELSEVIER / LEXIS-NEXIS
Reed Elsevier's subsidiary, Lexis-Nexis, is often thought of as a collection of media clips and legal documents. But a premium version of Lexis Nexis offers up a wider variety of aggregated public information including criminal and housing records. Another branch of the company known as its Risk and Information Analytics Group tracks detailed personal information for corporate fraud prevention and other risks. In February 2008, Reed Elsevier announced its intention to acquire Choicepoint for $4.1 billion, a deal that would combine the data broker with Lexis-Nexis and create an unprecedented library of private data, primarily about Americans.
INTELIUS
Intelius' store of personal data and search algorithm powers the "people-search" functions on more than a thousand Web sites, according to Ed Petersen, one of the site's founders. Petersen wouldn't comment on where Intelius gets its data, but it includes real estate details, salary information, criminal records and employment history. Until this past February, Intelius also included cell phone numbers. That data was removed following protests from privacy groups. The site, which received 8.5 million unique visitors in March, according to the Web traffic analysis firm comScore, does let users request that their personal information be deleted, if they write or fax a request. But when something relevant changes in your life--say, you move--your information may pop up again in Intelius's database, according to the site's privacy policy.
US SEARCH
A competitor to Intelius, US Search collects publicly available data and packages it up to power many of the Web's people-focused search engines. It may also be buying private data; its privacy policy alludes to purchasing information pulled from warranty cards. US Search received 6.6 million unique visitors in March, according to comScore. While US Search allows users to remove that data from its search engine by writing to the company, it warns that any publicly available data will remain in its database.
GOOGLE
For many users, there's little Google doesn't know about your online life. To better target ads at users, the search giant tracks and stores search trails for 18 months before anonymizing the data. It has also slowly been adding new services that give it increasing access to the details of users' activities. The site's e-mail service, RSS reader and online payment service, along with other software-as-a-service offerings, all help it to assemble more effective ad-targeting data. But in terms of data collection, none of those offerings compares to Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of online ad firm DoubleClick. By buying that company last year, Google gained the ability to track users beyond their initial search, including much of their behavior on any site hosting DoubleClick's ads.
MICROSOFT
In its bid to compete with Google on the Web, Microsoft has been following many of the search giant's data collection moves to better hone its ads. Like Google, it stores records of all user searches--a practice that became especially clear when it turned over search records to government prosecutors in a child pornography lawsuit in January 2007. Mirroring Google's acquisition of DoubleClick, Microsoft also acquired an interactive advertising firm, aQuantive, about a year ago, giving it far more insight into users' online activities. Despite Microsoft's failed bid for Yahoo!, rumors of the software giant's intention to acquire a major Web portal could further boost Microsoft's level of Web user data to Google-like proportions.
FACEBOOK
Make no mistake: Facebook's $15 billion valuation is based on the promise that social networks will soon be a rich source of information for ad targeting. Every third-party application flocking to Facebook adds more than page views; it also builds on Facebook's knowledge of users' interests and activities. Most important, Facebook has unique insight around how users are socially connected--hence its recently launched Beacon advertising program, designed to exploit those connections by broadcasting users' purchases to their friends as endorsements.- Gforce20, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Mmmm, copypasta.
- michael1406, on 05/18/2008, -0/+3It's better than that stupid slide show of text on Forbes.
- Gforce20, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Touche.
- michael1406, on 05/18/2008, -0/+3It's better than that stupid slide show of text on Forbes.
- Gforce20, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Mmmm, copypasta.
- Dustin00, on 05/18/2008, -0/+3What an incredibly annoying web site Forbes has become.
- sentinel106, on 05/18/2008, -1/+1isn't profiting off of a person's personal data illegal?
- freebsdmike, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1No it's not if you do like that companies mentioned in the article.
- freebsdmike, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2I can't wait for people to start realizing that Google isn't the almighty savior of the internet. Google has brainwashed so many people into thinking their a good company it's not funny.
- KoolHow, on 05/18/2008, -1/+0We are tracked and sliced and diced in a myriad of ways. The only path to avoid this is to retire to one of the dwindling wilderness areas of the Earth. Think about a company like Wal-Mart. If you pay by credit card, they know every one of your purchases ever. They know what days you usually come into the store, how often you like to buy sweet items, whether you spend a little or a lot on underwear, what type of music you listen to, the configuration of your home computing and entertainment systems. What you look like. How well you are aging. How often you have sex. And on and on.
Big business intelligence gathering like this makes small business of our lives. What are we to do?
http://www.Changing-History.com - foltaggio, on 07/11/2008, -1/+31. Collect private data
2. ???
3. Profit! - str3ama, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Surprised Amazon's S7 wasn't included..yea it's a bit too obvious, but still.
- str3ama, on 05/18/2008, -3/+1Surprised Amazon's S7 wasn't included..yea it's a bit too obvious, but still.
- vornan19, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2At least Digg wasn't on that list!
- renevrivero, on 05/18/2008, -2/+0I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
Enough said... privacy is dead, accept it and learn to live with it--you might even profit!
http://oracleswell.blogspot.com/ - rohitnarayan, on 05/20/2008, -1/+0YOU GUYS WOULD LOVE TO SEE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The raw power of passion & the spirit of cinema come together. Check this out to see what I really mean. http://www.film-crew.blogspot.com/
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