Spying's New Frontier: Private Firm Collects Data on 'Every American Adult'
"We have data on that 21-year-old who's living at home with mom and dad"
The fight for internet privacy has focused much of its attention on government surveillance, but mass data collection is done by private companies as well--and one such firm has "centralized and weaponized" all that information for its customers, Bloomberg reports on Friday.
In fact, it has already built a profile on "every American adult," Bloomberg writes.
While "professional snoops" have trawled through public and nonpublic records databases to amass information on people for more than a decade, Bloomberg's David Gauvey Herbert highlights the company that has turned it into a powerful new industry for private investigators, government agencies, debt collectors, and other customers:
For more than a decade, professional snoops have been able to search troves of public and nonpublic records--known addresses, DMV records, photographs of a person's car--and condense them into comprehensive reports costing as little as $10.
[....] IDI, a year-old company in the so-called data-fusion business, is the first to centralize and weaponize all that information for its customers. The Boca Raton, Fla., company's database service, idiCORE, combines public records with purchasing, demographic, and behavioral data.
The company's CEO Derek Dubner told Herbert that IDI's profiles even extend to young adults who wouldn't be found in conventional databases.
"We have data on that 21-year-old who's living at home with mom and dad," Dubner said.
The profiles reportedly include "all known addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses; every piece of property ever bought or sold, plus related mortgages; past and present vehicles owned; criminal citations, from speeding tickets on up; voter registration; hunting permits; and names and phone numbers of neighbors."
"Besides pitching its databases to big-name P.I.s (Kroll, Control Risks), law firms, debt collectors, and government agencies, IDI says it's also targeting consumer marketers," Herbert writes.
IDI also owns two coupon companies that collect data on purchasing and behavioral trends.
Roger Kay, president of the consulting firm Endpoint Technologies Associates, explained that it's those capabilities in particular that make IDI so powerful--and so creepy.
"The cloud never forgets, and imperfect pictures of you composed from your data profile are carefully filled in over time," Kay said. "We're like bugs in amber, completely trapped in the web of our own data."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
The fight for internet privacy has focused much of its attention on government surveillance, but mass data collection is done by private companies as well--and one such firm has "centralized and weaponized" all that information for its customers, Bloomberg reports on Friday.
In fact, it has already built a profile on "every American adult," Bloomberg writes.
While "professional snoops" have trawled through public and nonpublic records databases to amass information on people for more than a decade, Bloomberg's David Gauvey Herbert highlights the company that has turned it into a powerful new industry for private investigators, government agencies, debt collectors, and other customers:
For more than a decade, professional snoops have been able to search troves of public and nonpublic records--known addresses, DMV records, photographs of a person's car--and condense them into comprehensive reports costing as little as $10.
[....] IDI, a year-old company in the so-called data-fusion business, is the first to centralize and weaponize all that information for its customers. The Boca Raton, Fla., company's database service, idiCORE, combines public records with purchasing, demographic, and behavioral data.
The company's CEO Derek Dubner told Herbert that IDI's profiles even extend to young adults who wouldn't be found in conventional databases.
"We have data on that 21-year-old who's living at home with mom and dad," Dubner said.
The profiles reportedly include "all known addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses; every piece of property ever bought or sold, plus related mortgages; past and present vehicles owned; criminal citations, from speeding tickets on up; voter registration; hunting permits; and names and phone numbers of neighbors."
"Besides pitching its databases to big-name P.I.s (Kroll, Control Risks), law firms, debt collectors, and government agencies, IDI says it's also targeting consumer marketers," Herbert writes.
IDI also owns two coupon companies that collect data on purchasing and behavioral trends.
Roger Kay, president of the consulting firm Endpoint Technologies Associates, explained that it's those capabilities in particular that make IDI so powerful--and so creepy.
"The cloud never forgets, and imperfect pictures of you composed from your data profile are carefully filled in over time," Kay said. "We're like bugs in amber, completely trapped in the web of our own data."
The fight for internet privacy has focused much of its attention on government surveillance, but mass data collection is done by private companies as well--and one such firm has "centralized and weaponized" all that information for its customers, Bloomberg reports on Friday.
In fact, it has already built a profile on "every American adult," Bloomberg writes.
While "professional snoops" have trawled through public and nonpublic records databases to amass information on people for more than a decade, Bloomberg's David Gauvey Herbert highlights the company that has turned it into a powerful new industry for private investigators, government agencies, debt collectors, and other customers:
For more than a decade, professional snoops have been able to search troves of public and nonpublic records--known addresses, DMV records, photographs of a person's car--and condense them into comprehensive reports costing as little as $10.
[....] IDI, a year-old company in the so-called data-fusion business, is the first to centralize and weaponize all that information for its customers. The Boca Raton, Fla., company's database service, idiCORE, combines public records with purchasing, demographic, and behavioral data.
The company's CEO Derek Dubner told Herbert that IDI's profiles even extend to young adults who wouldn't be found in conventional databases.
"We have data on that 21-year-old who's living at home with mom and dad," Dubner said.
The profiles reportedly include "all known addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses; every piece of property ever bought or sold, plus related mortgages; past and present vehicles owned; criminal citations, from speeding tickets on up; voter registration; hunting permits; and names and phone numbers of neighbors."
"Besides pitching its databases to big-name P.I.s (Kroll, Control Risks), law firms, debt collectors, and government agencies, IDI says it's also targeting consumer marketers," Herbert writes.
IDI also owns two coupon companies that collect data on purchasing and behavioral trends.
Roger Kay, president of the consulting firm Endpoint Technologies Associates, explained that it's those capabilities in particular that make IDI so powerful--and so creepy.
"The cloud never forgets, and imperfect pictures of you composed from your data profile are carefully filled in over time," Kay said. "We're like bugs in amber, completely trapped in the web of our own data."