Data brokers don’t just collect facts. They guess about you

Data brokers do more than collect details such as addresses and phone numbers: they combine records and use algorithms to infer people’s interests, circumstances and likely behaviour. These profiles can include sensitive or inaccurate guesses about health, finances, religion or vulnerabilities, and may be shared with businesses, potentially shaping how people are targeted or assessed.

The article cites an FTC investigation into brokers’ use of data to infer traits including income, religion, political views and health conditions. It describes Acxiom’s historical PersonicX household categories, location-based audiences offered by InMarket, and Oracle’s BlueKai advertising business, which Oracle closed in September 2024. It also notes that health-related inferences collected outside healthcare may not receive the same HIPAA protections as medical records.