A word of online caution: From fraud to data brokers

Originally published in the Piqua Daily Call March 14, 2014

By Bethany J. Royer

PIQUA — Fraud, scams, and identity theft online is a growing problem in the United States

while data brokers “a multi-billion dollar industry” according to the U.S. Senate Committee on

Commerce, Science and Transportation has operated generally under the radar.

In fact, data broker companies generated $156 billion in revenue for 2012, two times the entire

budget of the United States Intelligence budget, says Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-

WV). Collecting data on millions of consumers without permission, input and in many cases no

way to opt-out and then selling the information to marketers. Information that can then be used

to determine credit risk or establish a consumer profile across a host of businesses, among other

potentials.

Whether an individual uses their computer, smart phone or tablet to make a purchase or search

for that next great vacation spot online - someone is collecting that information.

However, much of the limelight when it comes to online transactions has been reserved to the

aforementioned fraud, scams and identity theft. For example, AARP (Association of American

Retired Persons) recently announced 15 key behaviors in combination with life experiences that

increase a person’s vulnerability to online fraud. Those behaviors include whether a potential

online fraud victim clicks pop-ups ads, opens email from unknown sources, downloads apps, and

is impulsive, among other factors. While also taking into account life experiences such as the

loss of a job, feeling isolated, and being concerned about debt.

Other factors include whether or not an individual is knowledgeable in regards to banks not

sending emails to their customers or being aware that a privacy policy does not always mean the

website will not share their information with other companies.

The study found that nearly one in five or 18 percent of Ohioans who access the Internet engage

in at least 7 of the 15 behaviors or experience life events that put them at an increased risk for

being victimized online. Full results are available online at the AARP website and was

conducted on behalf of the association to examine individual Internet use and experience with

related fraud.

AARP is now offering a free scam alert that can be delivered directly to one’s email inbox.

However, according to the association’s online privacy policy, they allow third-party analytics

companies, research companies or ad networks (IE. data brokers) to collect non-personal

identifiable information (Non-PII) on their website. Those companies include Acxiom,

BridgeTrack, DoubleClick, Google AdSense, Google AdWords, among others.

Acxiom, one the largest companies in the data broker industry, collects information on ad views,

browser information, demographic data and hardware/software type to advertisers or other

parties.

The company boasts information on an approximate 170 million consumers world-wide,

according to Rockefeller who spoke at a Senate hearing in December on the issue of data

collection. Pointing to Acxiom as one of several data broker holdouts in terms of providing

information and transparency during an investigation into data collecting for the Review of the

Data Broker Industry: Collection, Use, and Sale of Consumer Data for Marketing Purposes

report.

The AARP website does provide a transparent, relatively easy manner to designate consent status

for data collection with an on-off switch for some of those third-party companies on their privacy

policy page. For those without a provided on-off switch, a direct link to the third-party website is

offered so long as an enduser visits the privacy policy link (Typically at the bottom of the

homepage) for the opt-out option.

Yet, several data brokers on the list do not offer an opt-out from their ad serving, ad targeting,

and analytics/measurement, such as Brightcove.

When asked how AARP will utilize email provided by endusers for the free scam alert, Kathy

Keller of AARP Ohio in Columbus, assures those who sign up for the alert will not have their

information handed out to other parties, with the online alert for scam and fraud information

only.

Consumer privacy is very important to us, explained Keller, with the AARP website also

offering a link to Ghostery, a free, downloadable browser tool that alerts users to data collecting

trackers and provides an ability to block them if the user so chooses.

According to Keller, one million Ohioans are at risk of being taken advantage of by scammers

with 34 million at high-risk nation-wide.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (iC3) partnered with the National White Collar Crime

Center (NW3C) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) most recent 2012 report on

Internet crime ranks Ohio as 9th nation-wide for Internet crime complaints and 13th for financial

losses related to those crimes.

The United States ranks no. 1 out of the top 50 countries in complaints related to cyber crime

which includes auction and credit card fraud, employment or business opportunities, identity

theft, SPAM, phishing and romance scams.

Yet, what of the data broker industry with little to no oversight? Their information collection

including addresses, political affiliation and health, with an ability to identify smokers, reading

and browsing habits, how much one weighs and more. Categorizing and segmenting individuals

according to incomes and into such groups titled “Rough retirements” or “Zero mobility” so as to

target marketing, accordingly.

It may boil down to a bill introduced last month to the U.S. Senate that would require data

brokers to establish procedures to ensure the accuracy of collected personal information. The

bill, Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act, would give consumers the opportunity to

request their information from data brokers for review, at least once a year so as to correct

discrepancies, at no charge, while also providing an opt-out.

Stay tuned …

Bethany J. Royer may be reached at 773-2721 or on Twitter @TheDailyCall