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I have insider knowledge as I used to work for one of these companies. Depending on the product you purchase the data comes from multiple sources. Also these c

I have insider knowledge as I used to work for one of these companies. Depending on the product you purchase the data comes from multiple sources. Also these companies have sophisticated machine learning capabilities to build a profile based on various attributes found in seemingly unrelated pieces of data. So the list consists of credit reporting agencies, public records, your online profiles with public access, court records, aggregators like LexisNexis and dozens like them. This heavy lifting you speak of is done differently by each company and consists literally based on multiple sources to enrich your profile. These companies spend millions on data and engineering and make even more, and whatever preconceived notion you have about courts ordering to seal your records, it doesn't happen in a centralized fashion, you would need to contact each data vendor individually to be removed. But it would be like playing whackamole.

deegles 10y ago
As a person who used to be involved in that industry, do you try to protect your data more? Or is it just a losing battle?
- pandabear187 10y ago
  Yes, I protect the shit out of my personal info. I have introduced a seeding mechanism to figure out who is sharing my data whenever I sign up for things. Public records are different and you have to create a Trust or a company to hide behind to not be personally listed. I would suggest anyone wanting to not be exposed to never use your real name or address online if you're not confident they won't share it. Introducing typos or initials or use a nickname for online orders that allow to list billing address separate from shipping address. Billing data typically has a better chance of not being resold, but there are no guarantees, read their TOS if not sure.
  - samstave 10y ago
    I really think you should do a how-to / AMA Financial ignorance is an exceedingly exploited issue in the US, and I do not think anyone is doing anything about this.
  - pushECX 10y ago
    Would you be willing to write up a guide of some sort about the steps that someone could take to protect their information? Personally, I would be willing to pay for something like that.
mehrdadn 10y ago
Thank you for the reply. Can you actually give some kind of a list though? The entire problem here is everyone explains the how but no one is willing to explain the who. I certainly understand it's "multiple sources", I'm asking who are these sources I keep hearing about. There can't be nearly as many sources as there are sites who buy from them. If you'd like to not name the company you worked for yourself then could you at least please list as many other ones as possible? That would be far, far more helpful than just saying they use machine learning and that they use multiple sources, etc.
- blackbagboys 10y ago
  There is no such public list. Most of these companies are privately held, their methods are trade secrets, and there is no real form of legal recourse. Your best bet would be to buy a book like this: https://www.amazon.com/Hiding-Internet-Eliminating-Personal-Information/dp/1500397814 https://www.amazon.com/Hiding-Internet-Eliminating-Personal-... and follow the recommendations, but even that is only likely to be half-effective. Much of the public information is mined from sources like credit headers, your court records, utility bills, property and tax assessment records, voter registration lists, motor vehicle registrations, etc. Unfortunately, the legal and technological landscape is such that 'hiding' from these kinds of services is effectively impossible.
  - mehrdadn 10y ago
    > There is no such public list. Most of these companies are privately held, their methods are trade secrets, and there is no real form of legal recourse. How can there not be a public list of these data miners? When e.g. a court needs to control someone's information surely they know who these people are and they can let them know? Is there a secret list in every courthouse or something? Or when someone wants to start another one of the higher-level companies -- how do they know which core aggregators to buy from? If that's a secret then how would they find out? Surely someone's gotta be willing to tell?
    - twblalock 10y ago
literallycancer 10y ago
Are any of these companies operating in Europe and/or with mostly European data?

deegles 10y ago

As a person who used to be involved in that industry, do you try to protect your data more? Or is it just a losing battle?

pandabear187 10y ago
Yes, I protect the shit out of my personal info. I have introduced a seeding mechanism to figure out who is sharing my data whenever I sign up for things. Public records are different and you have to create a Trust or a company to hide behind to not be personally listed. I would suggest anyone wanting to not be exposed to never use your real name or address online if you're not confident they won't share it. Introducing typos or initials or use a nickname for online orders that allow to list billing address separate from shipping address. Billing data typically has a better chance of not being resold, but there are no guarantees, read their TOS if not sure.
- samstave 10y ago
  I really think you should do a how-to / AMA Financial ignorance is an exceedingly exploited issue in the US, and I do not think anyone is doing anything about this.
- pushECX 10y ago
  Would you be willing to write up a guide of some sort about the steps that someone could take to protect their information? Personally, I would be willing to pay for something like that.

mehrdadn 10y ago

Thank you for the reply. Can you actually give some kind of a list though? The entire problem here is everyone explains the how but no one is willing to explain the who. I certainly understand it's "multiple sources", I'm asking who are these sources I keep hearing about. There can't be nearly as many sources as there are sites who buy from them. If you'd like to not name the company you worked for yourself then could you at least please list as many other ones as possible? That would be far, far more helpful than just saying they use machine learning and that they use multiple sources, etc.

blackbagboys 10y ago
There is no such public list. Most of these companies are privately held, their methods are trade secrets, and there is no real form of legal recourse. Your best bet would be to buy a book like this: https://www.amazon.com/Hiding-Internet-Eliminating-Personal-Information/dp/1500397814 https://www.amazon.com/Hiding-Internet-Eliminating-Personal-... and follow the recommendations, but even that is only likely to be half-effective. Much of the public information is mined from sources like credit headers, your court records, utility bills, property and tax assessment records, voter registration lists, motor vehicle registrations, etc. Unfortunately, the legal and technological landscape is such that 'hiding' from these kinds of services is effectively impossible.
- mehrdadn 10y ago
  > There is no such public list. Most of these companies are privately held, their methods are trade secrets, and there is no real form of legal recourse. How can there not be a public list of these data miners? When e.g. a court needs to control someone's information surely they know who these people are and they can let them know? Is there a secret list in every courthouse or something? Or when someone wants to start another one of the higher-level companies -- how do they know which core aggregators to buy from? If that's a secret then how would they find out? Surely someone's gotta be willing to tell?
  - twblalock 10y ago

literallycancer 10y ago

Are any of these companies operating in Europe and/or with mostly European data?