InfoBytes Blog
FTC Report Calls For Increased Data Broker Transparency
On May 27, the FTC released a report that claims—based on a study of nine data brokers—that data brokers generally operate with a “fundamental lack of transparency.” The FTC describes data brokers as companies that collect personal information about consumers from a wide range of sources and then provide that data for purposes of verifying an individual’s identity, marketing products, and detecting fraud or otherwise mitigating risk. The report is based in part on the nine brokers’ responses to FTC orders that required the brokers to provide information about: (i) the nature and sources of the consumer information the data brokers collect; (ii) how they use, maintain, and disseminate the information; and (iii) the extent to which the data brokers allow consumers to access and correct their information or to opt out of having their personal information sold or shared. The report summarizes the companies’ data acquisition processes, their product development and the types of products they provide, the quality of the data collected and sold, the types of clients to whom the data is sold, and consumer controls over the information. The FTC recommends that Congress consider enacting data broker legislation that would, among other things: (i) require data brokers to give consumers access to their data and the ability to opt out of having it shared for marketing purposes; (ii) require data brokers to clearly disclose that they not only use raw data, but that they also derive certain inferences from the data; (iii) address gaps in FCRA to provide consumers with transparency when a company uses a data broker’s risk mitigation product that limits a consumer’s ability to complete a transaction; and (iv) require brokers who offer people search products to allow consumers to access their own information and opt out of the use of that information, and to disclose the sources of the information and any limitations of the opt out.