# Data Deletion Services: Research ## Data Broker - [[Whitepages]] - [[Unacast]] - Inforever - Gravy Analytics - People Search - National Public Data ## Data Deletion Companies - [[Incogni]] - DeleteMe - Aura - [[Optery]] - [[Mozilla Monitor]] - [[Onerep]] - Atlas Privacy ## Other Companies - Office Depot - [[General Motors]] - [[Nissan]] - Gmail (Google) ## Topics - [[Inferred Data]] - CCPA - State Privacy Laws # Video Ideas When talking about [[Inferred Data]], use the style of the game "guess who" to show that any 1 of these groups are non-identifying, but several and very quickly identify you. - Try to get actual statistics on the groups, like out of 100 people, how many do that thing - Who wants inferred data? - What is considered inferred data? Explain what data brokers really are - Use the language from states that require registration - https://texas-sos.appianportalsgov.com/data-broker-registry - https://oag.ca.gov/data-brokers - What do they actually collect - What do they do with it - Who do they share it with - Where does it go - If requested for deletion, is it really deleted? Or just unlisted? What do data deletion services actually delete? - What do data deletion services consider a data broker Inferred data - A lot of this information is considered "inferred data", and it includes things like if you own a pet, if you drink coffee, if you are interested in buying a car, if you're prone to a gambling addition, even things like if you're concerned about your privacy. That last one is why you see ads for [[Incogni]], DeleteMe, and Aura. That's why they wanted to sponsor me. They know that my viewers are more likely to be concerned about their privacy, and they really want to sell you their solution. ## Questions to Answer - What is a Data Broker? - Bad question, see below - What kinds of Data Brokers are there? - Financial Information Brokers - Credit reporting agencies like Experian, Equifax, and Transunion - Payment data from your phone bill, utilities, and even rent - Most often used to provide banks information about you in regards to lending money - Risk Mitigation Brokers - Used to validate identities, check for fraud - Employment: ADP, backgroundcheck.com, and Checkr - Tenant: RealPage, Rent Grow, and Transunion - Marketing Data Brokers - Used to gather broad information about your online activity and put into pools of certain behaviors, also know as [[Inferred Data]]. - People Search Services - Used mostly as an online phone book, often times with other public information like social media accounts and arrest records. - This is the most common type of data broker that Data Deletion Services work with. - Personal Health Brokers - Track and sell health data to pharmaceutical companies - Purchases of over-the-counter medications - Search history of health-related topics - These companies are not covered under HIPPA, so there are no restrictions - Source: https://www.tomkemp.ai/blog/2022/10/05/a-look-at-the-different-types-of-data-brokers - Where do Data Brokers get their data from? - https://www.security.org/data-removal/data-broker/#how-they-get-info - Services you use that share or sell user data - Facebook, Instagram, Google, Amazon, Office Depot, Disney, etc. - Public records - Property records, court documents, criminal records, motor vehicle records, birth certificates, voter-registration lists, census data, marriage and divorce records, and any other list or record that’s publicly available - Cookies and Fingerprinting - How you navigate between websites and services, how long you're on a web page, when you open an email, what items you put in your cart and then leave, etc. See Cookie video! - Surveys and Sweepstakes - "Some data brokers will use sweepstakes, questionnaires, or surveys to find out more about you. They’re usually up front about that method and will direct them right at you online, on the phone, or through regular old snail mail. Sometimes they’ll throw in some incentives or rewards." - Scraped data - From other websites like Forums that are scraped in bulk - What data do Data Brokers collect? - What is [[Inferred Data]]? - Is [[Inferred Data]] considered Personally Identifiable Information? - Technically, no. - What is your Personally Identifiable Information - Name, address, email address, phone number (anything that can directly identify you) - Could [[Inferred Data]] directly identify a person with enough data? - Sort of, yeah, but it depends on how it's collected. - If your name or email or device ID are attached to a profile about this data, yes. - If it's just the inferred data with no direct identifier and it's sold in bulk? Not really, no. - Who works with Data Brokers to purchase your data? - How long do Data Brokers retain your information? - It depends on the kind of data broker, sometimes forever, sometimes up until you request it's deleted. - Do Data Brokers comply with requests to delete your information? - Do they just hide it or do they properly delete it? - They do delete it when they say they do. - What can you delete on your own? - The same thing as what a data deletion service would delete - Are Data Deletion Services actually deleting your information? - Yes - What Data Brokers work with Data Deletion Services? - Mostly People Search Services - What Data Brokers will not work with Data Deletion Services? - The other kinds listed above - What determines whether a Data Broker will delete your information or not? - There seems to be 2 major factors: - Legal requirement - Avoiding bad press - Do Data Brokers sell to the highest bidder? Or do they just sell it to anyone who wants to give them money? - I have no idea where this came from, no, they sell it to whoever will buy it at the rate they list. ## What kinds of Data Brokers are there? Advertising and Marketing Data Brokers - [[Unacast]] - Gravy Analytics Phone book style data brokers - [[Whitepages]] Non-traditional data brokers - Car companies like [[General Motors]] ## Registered Data Brokers https://oag.ca.gov/data-brokers ## Sponsored Spots Videos that have sponsored segments featuring the data deletion services #### [[Incogni]] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urfu-TLV72s 0:33 - "Spam calls and texts", Data brokers have leaked and sold data, Landlord can access data through people search sites (anyone can actually), "Incogni is automated" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc5_OKMgfQw 6:06 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXL-8hmHqHE 0:35 - "I'm concerned about privacy", "Sell to the highest bidder", "We have a legal right to take our data down, but that's not realistic because we're busy" - "102 take downs sent" < That's each piece of information, not 102 different data brokers. If each data broker has 6 pieces of information about you, such as your name, your current address plus two previous addresses, your phone number, and your personal email and work email, well, that 102 number they're showing would have only been from 17 data brokers.![[Screenshot from 2025-03-02 14-52-07.png]] Find this alleged Incogni Suppression List. (Future me, I was unable to find this.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imxnpvtXNv4 6:14 - "Deepest darkest corners of the internet" - Data brokers are the common thread of all the bad guys getting your data <(hard disagree, source: meta) - "Keep your secrets off the internet by using Incogni" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzqrfbXHXGA - "Hundreds of brokers" try thousands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwIKof_86Tc - On the lookout for data breaches < first time I've heard that #### DeleteMe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_XhZC7Gmw0 - "Hundreds of brokers", again, try thousands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8UJ6cIkLUI - Was also one of the Incogni sponsored YouTubers! ![[Screenshot from 2025-03-02 12-34-46.png]] - 4,347 Total Listings Reviewed - 38 Removed - 26 Data brokers with your personal info - 113 total Personally Identifiable Information found - Inforever was the broker with the most info - Time saved searching: About 13 hours - Time saved removing" About 9 hours Okay so let's break that down. There are 26 total data brokers in this list. Of those, there are over 4,347 pieces of information, and of all of those, DeleteMe has removed 38, which could have been from a single data broker given how big that other number is. So, they're claiming that they spent 9 hours contacting one data broker. Additionally, according the the voice over itself, that was 6 months of paying for DeleteMe. I'll admit, though, this isn't accounting for the search time. I don't know about you, but I'm fairly confident I could send more than 26 emails in a 6 month period. Heck, I know that's true, I regularly send more than that in a standard 8 hour workday. Follow up screenshot is somehow even worse ![[Screenshot from 2025-03-02 12-36-21.png]] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOf76-_uTNY - "Profiles on you", "Sell it to who ever is paying", "Hundreds of data brokers" #### Aura https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k17q7hdVsTA - "Data breach where nearly every SSN was leaked" - This was through the data broker National Public Data - "You've never been more vulnerable online than right now" - Look into that statement - is the internet more or less secure now? - "Aura protects me from this exact scenario" - Validate data broker list from Aura to see if National Public Data was in their list of removals at any point (use the Internet Archive from before the breach occurred) - Credit monitoring, identity theft insurance, data breach look ups. ## Other References - Unacast: https://www.unacast.com/privacy-policy - Whitepages: https://www.whitepages.com/privacy - Venntel clearly does not comply: https://www.venntel.com/privacy-ccpa-optout-stats - DeleteMe Employees: https://rocketreach.co/deleteme-management_b5dc40a8f42e4a5d - Incogni Employees: https://rocketreach.co/incogni-management_b71401c4c4c494ae - Data Brokers Services Cover: - https://blog.incogni.com/data-brokers-incogni-covers/ - https://joindeleteme.com/sites-we-remove-from/ - Aura: - https://www.aura.com/learn/how-to-remove-yourself-from-data-broker-sites <- contains some misleading info, like VPN usage. - How many data brokers are there? https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/business/vpn/data-broker-statistics-and-trends/