What Is a Data Broker and How Do They Collect Your Information?
If you have ever searched for your name online and discovered your address, phone number, previous locations, or relatives listed on a website, you may have encountered information collected or published by a data broker.
Most people have never heard of data brokers until they discover that their personal information has been collected, organized, and made available online.
Understanding how data brokers operate is one of the most important first steps in digital privacy education.
For a broader introduction to protecting your personal information, read the Complete Beginner’s Guide to Digital Privacy.
What Is a Data Broker?
A data broker is a company that collects information about individuals from multiple sources and organizes that information into consumer profiles or databases.
Depending on the company and its business purpose, a data broker may collect or organize information such as:
- Full names
- Current and previous home addresses
- Phone numbers
- Email addresses
- Age and date of birth
- Household information
- Possible relatives and associates
- Property ownership records
- Purchasing behavior
- Online activity
- Public records
- Professional information
- Demographic information
- Interests and hobbies
The information may come from both public and private sources.
A data broker may combine information from several locations to create a more detailed profile of an individual or household.
How Do Data Brokers Obtain Your Information?
Many people assume their information was stolen or obtained through a data breach when they discover it online.
Data breaches can expose personal information, but many data brokers also obtain information through legal commercial and public sources.
These sources may include:
- Public records
- Property records
- Court records
- Commercial databases
- Marketing companies
- Retail loyalty programs
- Surveys and questionnaires
- Website tracking technologies
- Mobile applications
- Social media activity
- Consumer purchases
- Advertising networks
- Third-party data providers
Your personal information may have been collected over many years from numerous sources and combined into a single consumer profile.
To understand the types of details that may already be exposed, read What Personal Information Is Available About You Online?
What Is the Difference Between Active and Passive Data Collection?
Some information is collected because you intentionally provide it.
This is often called active data collection.
Examples may include:
- Creating an online account
- Completing a survey
- Joining a loyalty program
- Entering a contest
- Making an online purchase
- Subscribing to a newsletter
- Posting information on social media
Other information may be collected through your online activity without requiring you to type the information directly into a form.
This may include:
- Browsing behavior
- Device information
- Approximate location information
- Advertising identifiers
- Website interactions
- Purchase patterns
- Links clicked
Together, these activities contribute to your digital footprint.
Learn more in What Is a Digital Footprint and Why Should You Care?
Are Data Brokers Illegal?
No. Data brokers are not automatically illegal.
Many data brokers operate as legitimate businesses within existing privacy, consumer-protection, marketing, and public-record laws.
However, the specific rules governing the collection, sale, disclosure, correction, and deletion of personal information may vary according to the location, type of information, and business involved.
The data-broker industry exists because information can be valuable for activities such as:
- Advertising
- Marketing
- Identity verification
- Fraud prevention
- Background research
- Risk assessment
- Consumer analytics
- People-search services
The fact that a business activity may be legal does not mean every person is comfortable with the amount of personal information being collected or displayed.
This is one reason digital privacy education is important.
The goal of Data Removal Academy is not to create fear. The goal is to provide practical education so individuals can make informed decisions about their personal information.
Why Should You Care About Data Brokers?
Data brokers may maintain surprisingly detailed information about individuals and households.
A profile may include:
- Current and previous addresses
- Possible family members
- Property records
- Approximate income ranges
- Interests and hobbies
- Consumer purchasing habits
- Phone numbers and email addresses
- Professional information
- Online activity
One individual detail may appear harmless by itself.
However, combining many details can create a more complete picture of a person’s identity, household, habits, and activities.
Excessive exposure may increase concerns involving unwanted contact, impersonation, identity theft, targeted scams, profiling, or other misuse.
Review these concerns in What Are the Risks of Having Your Personal Information Online?
Can You Remove Your Information From Data-Broker Websites?
In some cases, yes.
Many data brokers and people-search websites provide procedures that allow individuals to request the removal, suppression, correction, or restriction of certain personal information.
The process may require you to:
- Locate the listing containing your information
- Find the website’s opt-out procedure
- Submit a removal request
- Verify your email address
- Confirm your identity
- Wait for the request to be processed
- Return later to confirm the listing was removed
Removal is often an ongoing process rather than a one-time event.
Information may reappear when databases are updated, when a broker receives new records, or when another website republishes similar information.
Learn what may and may not be removable in Can You Remove Your Personal Information From the Internet?
How Can You Reduce Future Information Exposure?
Removing existing information is only one part of digital privacy.
You must also reduce the amount of unnecessary information you provide in the future.
Helpful privacy habits may include:
- Limiting unnecessary personal details on social media
- Reviewing account privacy settings
- Using strong and unique passwords
- Enabling multi-factor authentication
- Closing accounts you no longer use
- Reviewing application permissions
- Being cautious with surveys and loyalty programs
- Avoiding unnecessary publication of your home address or phone number
- Separating public-facing and personal contact information when practical
For additional protection strategies, read How Can You Protect Your Personal Information Online?
How Can You Find Data-Broker Listings About Yourself?
You can begin with a personal privacy audit.
Search for identifying information such as:
- Your full name in quotation marks
- Your phone number
- Your email address
- Your current home address
- Your previous addresses
- Your usernames
- Your professional information
Record where your information appears and decide which listings require attention.
A simple spreadsheet can include:
- Website name
- Website address
- Information displayed
- Level of concern
- Removal procedure
- Date the request was submitted
- Current status
- Date to check again
Follow the complete audit process in How Can You Find Out What Personal Information Exists About You Online?
Should You Use a Data-Removal Service?
Some people choose to submit data-broker removal requests manually.
Others may consider a paid removal service to help identify listings, submit opt-out requests, and monitor whether information reappears.
A service may offer convenience, but it is still important to understand:
- Which data brokers the service covers
- How frequently it checks for information
- What information the service requires from you
- How the company protects your information
- Whether requests are automated or handled manually
- What happens after the subscription ends
Privacy tools and services should be selected to solve a clearly identified problem.
Explore the available options in What Privacy Tools Can Help Protect Your Personal Information Online?
What Should Beginners Do First?
If you are beginning your digital privacy journey, use the following process:
- Learn what data brokers are and how they operate.
- Search for your personal information online.
- Identify which information creates the greatest concern.
- Review your online accounts and privacy settings.
- Begin with high-priority removal requests.
- Improve your everyday privacy habits.
- Record your actions and results.
- Review your information again periodically.
Do not attempt to solve every privacy problem in one day.
Start with the information that creates the greatest personal, financial, or security concern.
For an organized overview of the full beginner curriculum, follow Your Digital Privacy Roadmap: The Complete Beginner’s Checklist.
Review the Digital Privacy Foundations Series
Continue building your understanding with these eight related resources:
- Your Digital Privacy Roadmap: The Complete Beginner’s Checklist
- What Personal Information Is Available About You Online?
- What Is a Digital Footprint and Why Should You Care?
- What Are the Risks of Having Your Personal Information Online?
- Can You Remove Your Personal Information From the Internet?
- How Can You Protect Your Personal Information Online?
- How Can You Find Out What Personal Information Exists About You Online?
- What Privacy Tools Can Help Protect Your Personal Information Online?
Return to the Complete Beginner’s Guide
This article is part of the Data Removal Academy Digital Privacy Foundations series.
Return to the pillar guide for a complete beginner-level overview of digital privacy, personal information exposure, account protection, information removal, and privacy tools.
Read the Complete Beginner’s Guide to Digital Privacy
Final Thoughts
Data brokers are only one part of the modern digital privacy ecosystem.
Understanding how they collect, combine, organize, and distribute personal information can help you make more informed decisions regarding your privacy online.
Digital privacy is not about completely disappearing from the internet.
It is about understanding how information moves throughout the digital world and learning practical ways to manage your digital footprint.
Privacy should be viewed as a continuous process of:
- Learning
- Searching
- Monitoring
- Protecting
- Removing
- Managing
- Improving
Welcome to Data Removal Academy.
Your privacy education begins with understanding how your information is collected.