An Overview on Data Brokers

You may not know it, but your personallly identifiable data is likely available for free or for purchase right now. Plenty of groups, both reputable and malicious, can buy personal data through a data broker. This guide will explain what data brokers are, as well as the services BlackCloak offers to deal with these entities.

What are Data Brokers? Data brokers are information aggregators that collect personal information on public records found on the internet. Data brokers normally collect personal information from voter registration, census data, birth certificates, property records, vehicle registration records and social media profiles, and then sell them to other companies, mostly for marketing purposes. The data points the brokers can collect can be quite vast. Brokers can collect everything from an individual’s name and address to far more specific information, such as data related to your travel preferences, auto loan and property information. They can also gather information on your family members.

Are Data Brokers Legal? Yes, there are currently no laws in place regulating data brokers in the United States.

How Do Cybercriminals Leverage Data Brokers? Hackers and cyber criminals could use information gathered by data brokers to conduct phishing attacks. Should they get their hands on your email address or phone number, for example, they could use those data points to conduct social engineering attacks by sending personalized spam emails and text messages to you.

Cybercriminals can also use information obtained from a data broker to:

• Conduct other phishing attacks

• Bypass security questions

• Help facilitate identity theft

• Or be used for disciminatory purposes

Learn More about BlackCloak's proprietary Data Broker Removal tool