Data Brokers: What Do They Know About You? - Comments Page 2

I TOTALLY agree with you, JD!

This has been going on for decades before Al Gore invented the Internet. The Internet just makes the amount and type of data gathered easier and faster.

Bob’s article brings all this clandestine data gathering to our attention. However, other than insurance companies, he does not say much about its misuse. Then he directs our attention to one potential user.

The comments about possible grammar errors only re-enforces what I’ve been saying since before Snowden. People don’t care who (Microsoft excepted) has what information about them; be it spammers, ad agencies, scam artists, blackmailers, or some other nefarious group.

But Heaven forbid that a government agency should get hold of a shred of it! – even if comes from someone else’s database.

Re: MD@14Jul2016
You are correct. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Add in all the surveillance devices, the IoT, add-ons to programs we use, etc., we have very little privacy left. And, all this information is available to the Data Brokers to sell to whomever is willing to pay.

It's been almost a decade since I became aware of the fact that the USPS (an arm of the government) sells my information to 3rd parties. Bob, I'd like to hear more about how that works and why I can't stop getting so much junk as a result.

I bought a house last year and I still get letters most every day from myriad wannabe lenders containing my full name, address, and loan number (sometimes actually correct). I shred my junk mail now.

I guess the USPS is the original data broker in America. Let's band together and destroy our mailboxes. Damn the identity thieves!

EDITOR'S NOTE: From a Forbes article on this topic: "Even if you do not file a change of address with the post office, data brokers often learn that you have moved when you update your magazine subscriptions, deed registrations, phone connections, credit card details or have transitions with other companies. Then they include you into a list of ‘new movers.’ "

See http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamtanner/2013/07/08/how-the-post-office-sells-your-new-address-with-anyone-who-pays-and-the-little-known-loophole-to-opt-out