You’re Being Sold: What Data Brokers Know About You

Let’s get one thing straight: data brokers don’t sell data—they sell you.

Your searches, your shopping habits, your location history, even your font downloads (yes, really)—it’s all bundled, labeled, and sold off like vintage baseball cards. Except you didn’t agree to this trade. And you don’t get a cut.

In 2018, U.S. companies alone spent over $19 billion buying this kind of info. That’s billion-with-a-B, all made from mining your digital trail.

Before the internet, “data” mostly meant your name and phone number in the Yellow Pages. Records were paper, local, and annoying to access.

But once databases went digital? Cross-referencing became easy—and the data broker industry took off like a rocket strapped to a spreadsheet.

We’ve already unpacked your data footprint—what you leave behind online, whether you mean to or not.

Data brokers focus on that passive data: cookies, clicks, location pings, what you add to cart and then forget. It’s not just what you post—it’s what you do.

Let’s say you Google “baby wipes.” A data broker sees that, tosses it in the “New Parent” bucket, and sells that bundle to advertisers. Next thing you know, you’re knee-deep in ads for strollers and Cocomelon toys.

But that’s just the start.

Data gets sorted into everything:

Even your car is spilling secrets. Automakers now collect driving behavior and sell it to insurers—who may raise your rates if you brake too hard or drive late at night (yes, seriously).

Worse? Some brokers leave your data exposed to stalkers and abusers.

Once your data is in the wild, it’s nearly impossible to wrangle it back.

You’d think a multibillion-dollar data industry would at least secure the data. But no. Data brokers are some of the easiest targets for hackers, and their breaches are massive.

You’ve probably heard of Equifax, LexisNexis, or this rogues' gallery.

It’s like they’re trying to make your personal info open source.

The good news: you can start clawing your info back.

A great first step? A data deletion service like DeleteMe. They’ll handle the messy work of removing your personal info from dozens of broker sites—and keep monitoring in case it reappears.

Use code PARTNER20 for 20% off your subscription.

In our next issue, we’ll walk through how to DIY your own data deletion.

CybersecuriTea is a free, plain-English guide to digital safety, designed for families, friends, and the folks you love. Subscribe today and get weekly tips to help keep your digital life secure.

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