A landmark Vermont law nudges over 120 data brokers out of the shadows

fastcompany.com

78 points·pastalex··7 comments

What really surprises me that it is legal to collect and resell personal data in USA. This might be benefecial for companies or scammers, but definitely not for common people.

> “We opposed the data broker registry in Vermont because we believe it is unnecessary to single out a specific industry (in this case, ‘data brokers,’) when first-party data controllers often have as much data as companies like Acxiom,” the company’s chief data ethics officer Jordan Abbott told Wired.

I agree with him. First parties like Google and Facebook should be subject to the same rules.

But what really surprised me was that Acxiom has a chief data ethics officer. That job sounds like it would be as real as a consumer health advocate at Philip Morris.

> First parties like Google and Facebook should be subject to the same rules.

I think we need a step before even reaching Google/FB: The ISP/cellular provider, and whatever the DNS provider is.

How exactly am I supposed to know that Acxiom might have my data if I don’t even know that they exist? Like, I know Google and Facebook does and I know where to find it but Acxiom doesn’t even have a page when I can ask for it.

https://www.vtsosonline.com/online/BusinessInquire/FilingHis...

Experian 6. The number of security breaches that the data broker experienced during the prior year: 0 . Total number of consumers affected by the breaches: 0 .

Heh, missed their little 'kerfluffle' by a few months. I'm curious if they have to refile these yearly/semi-yearly/etc.

A good start, but only a minimal one. It should at least exist on a national level.

Call your representatives!

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