

They crawl the web searching for information, and use it to build a profile of you: who they think you are, and what they think you like. Secondary sites, advertising networks, companies, data brokers, and all sorts of other third parties collect, store, and sell this information through data mining and online tracking. Be wary of using your real identity and sharing any real information about yourself when using online forums. Online forums like Reddit or Quora can be goldmines of information for data brokers and advertisers. This usually depends on each site’s Terms of Use regarding sharing of information, as well as your own privacy settings on each site (e.g., your Facebook likes and interests, your friends, your tweets, the work information you provide to LinkedIn). Social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn are notorious for sharing your personal information with various third parties and advertisers. If signing up for a mailing list, contest or sweepstakes, always check the Terms and Conditions to be sure that the company isn’t re-using your personal information for other purposes. Some examples of self-reported information include: Those mailing lists and sweepstakes are typically used as a form of lead-generation for retargeting an audience with ads. Real estate transactions (including appraisals).Government and public recordsĮxamples of government and public records include, but are not limited to: Here’s a list of some of their biggest sources for data: 1. These sites can have everything from your name and address, to shopping habits and religious views. These websites get personal information by scraping public records from a huge variety of sources, and generally aren’t very transparent about where the information specifically came from.ĭata brokers compile all kinds of personal details about you and neatly package it up to sell.
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People search websites are one type of “ data broker,” that collect, publicly list, and sell your personal data.
