Data brokers : a call for transparency and accountability
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- In this report, the Federal Trade Commission discusses the results of an in-depth study of nine data brokers. These data brokers collect personal information about consumers from a wide range of sources and provide it for a variety of purposes, including verifying an individual’s identity, marketing products, and detecting fraud. Because these companies generally never interact with consumers, consumers are often unaware of their existence, much less the variety of practices in which they engage. By reporting on the data collection and use practices of these nine data brokers, which represent a cross-section of the industry, this report attempts to shed light on the data broker industry and its practices. For decades, policymakers have expressed concerns about the lack of transparency of companies that buy and sell consumer data without direct consumer interaction. Indeed, the lack of transparency among companies providing consumer data for credit and other eligibility determinations led to the adoption of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), a statute the Commission has enforced since its enactment in 1970. The FCRA covers the provision of consumer data by consumer reporting agencies where it is used or expected to be used for decisions about credit, employment, insurance, housing, and similar eligibility determinations; it generally does not cover the sale of consumer data for marketing and other purposes. While the Commission has vigorously enforced the FCRA,1 since the late 1990s it has also been active in examining the practices of data brokers that fall outside the FCRA.
Description
| Alternative title | Call for transparency and accountability |
|---|---|
| Uniform title | United States, Federal Trade Commission. Data brokers (2014 May) |
| Type of resource | text |
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource ([110] pages) : color illustrations |
| Place | District of Columbia |
| Place | [Washington, D.C.] |
| Publisher | Federal Trade Commission |
| Publication date | 2014; 2014 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | United States, Federal Trade Commission |
|---|
Subjects
| Subject | Infomediaries > Government policy > United States |
|---|---|
| Subject | Information services > Government policy > United States |
| Subject | Privacy, Right of > United States |
| Genre | Bibliography |
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Federal Trade Commission. |
|---|---|
| Note | Title from title screen (viewed May 29, 2014). |
| Note | "May 2014." |
| Bibliography | Includes bibliographical references. |
| Location | electronic resource |
| Location | electronic resource |
| Location | electronic resource |
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