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As someone who's interfaced with the data brokers professionally, I can tell you that the ultimate starting point for their dataset is usually a state voter reg

As someone who's interfaced with the data brokers professionally, I can tell you that the ultimate starting point for their dataset is usually a state voter registration database. A lot of states pretty openly sell their data, like from the DMV, but every data broker is starting by figuring out a way to get that voter registration data- some states just give it, in some states (like say Maryland) you have to at least pretend to be an election researcher, etc. I'm sure for more restrictive states it gets passed around on the grey market. But if you're anti-data broker (I certainly am!), it starts with regulating your own state

dominotw 5y ago
> I can tell you that the ultimate starting point for their dataset is usually a state voter registration database. Right on the money. I worked for a company that sold this data to whoever paid them .
- dominik-2020 5y ago
  This is only valid for the U.S. though.
- zzleeper 5y ago
  What would be the best way to access this data for research? I do academic research (mostly focusing on credit) and it might be quite useful to write a paper that cross references this with loan data for a paper with a political angle.
_rs 5y ago
Giving my phone number on my voter registration form is definitely one of my biggest regrets. I'm sure a lot of my spam calls/texts come from that, but even campaigns texting me to vote for their candidates has become a huge annoyance every election season (despite me moving and unregistering to vote in that state - once a data company has bought the list I don't think there is any escape)
- hash872 5y ago
  Sooooo much this. I did it once and received multiple spam texts from various campaigns, was just a terrible decision. While politicians in a few states have cracked down a bit on data brokers recently, I don't think there's too much danger that they're going to strongly regulate ones that service political campaigns....
  - kjs3 5y ago
    Interestingly, on my phone # that I've had since the early 80s, I get election spam for me, my brother (who, amusingly, generally votes for the party I don't) and occasionally my mother. I actually get less spam than my brother does, and neither party seems to know who we vote for, so I get spam addressed to my brother from the party I generally vote for. Apparently, these data brokers suck at their job.

dominotw 5y ago

> I can tell you that the ultimate starting point for their dataset is usually a state voter registration database. Right on the money. I worked for a company that sold this data to whoever paid them .

dominik-2020 5y ago
This is only valid for the U.S. though.
zzleeper 5y ago
What would be the best way to access this data for research? I do academic research (mostly focusing on credit) and it might be quite useful to write a paper that cross references this with loan data for a paper with a political angle.

_rs 5y ago

Giving my phone number on my voter registration form is definitely one of my biggest regrets. I'm sure a lot of my spam calls/texts come from that, but even campaigns texting me to vote for their candidates has become a huge annoyance every election season (despite me moving and unregistering to vote in that state - once a data company has bought the list I don't think there is any escape)

hash872 5y ago
Sooooo much this. I did it once and received multiple spam texts from various campaigns, was just a terrible decision. While politicians in a few states have cracked down a bit on data brokers recently, I don't think there's too much danger that they're going to strongly regulate ones that service political campaigns....
- kjs3 5y ago
  Interestingly, on my phone # that I've had since the early 80s, I get election spam for me, my brother (who, amusingly, generally votes for the party I don't) and occasionally my mother. I actually get less spam than my brother does, and neither party seems to know who we vote for, so I get spam addressed to my brother from the party I generally vote for. Apparently, these data brokers suck at their job.