Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is posted online by data brokers that crawl the web for personal information of consumers, and then compile it into easy-to-find profiles. Data brokers compile these profiles using information from a variety of sources, listed below:
1. Government and public records
Examples of government and public records include, but are not limited to:- Real estate transactions (including appraisals)
- Trademark filings
- Marriage licenses and divorce decrees
- Any unsealed lawsuits or legal actions
- Birth and death certificates
- Census statistics
- Voter registrations
- Driver’s licenses
- Utility companies
- Government spending reports
- Political campaign contributions
- Sex offender registrations
- Legislation minutes
- Business and entity filings
- Professional and business licenses
- Criminal records
2. Self-Reported Information
Those mailing lists and sweepstakes are typically used as a form of lead-generation for retargeting an audience with ads. Some examples of self-reported information include:- Sweepstakes entries
- Mailing list sign-ups
- Rebate and warranty cards
- Contests
- Surveys
3. Social Media
This usually depends on the site’s Terms of Use regarding sharing info with third parties, as well as your own privacy selections on that site (e.g., your Facebook likes and interests, your friends, your tweets, the work information you provide to LinkedIn).- Forum posts
- Online account registrations and profiles
- This might give your name, age, gender, location, schools attended, ethnicity, religious views, and relationship status/preferences
4. Other data brokers
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. 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. Then, they target you with ads based on your profile, and constantly update your information with anything new they find while scraping the web, plus, they sell your information to whoever wants to buy it.
Julianne joined Abine in 2018 after studying international justice at Leiden University. She is a dedicated privacy advocate and an opt-out expert. When she’s not fighting data brokers, she enjoys unplugging with a cup of coffee and her cat.
Don’t have the time?
DeleteMe is our premium privacy service that removes you from more than 30 data brokers like Whitepages, Spokeo, BeenVerified, plus many more.
Save 20% on DeleteMe when you use the code DIYPRIVACY.
Hundreds of companies collect and sell your private data online. DeleteMe removes it for you.
Our privacy advisors:
- Continuously find and remove your sensitive data online
- Stop companies from selling your data – all year long
- Have removed 35M+ records of personal data from the web
Special Offer
Save 20% on any individual and family privacy plan with code: BLOG20