Editing Data broker (section)

=== Criticisms, consumer rights and breaches===
A United States Senate Committee in 2013 published ''A Review of the Data Broker Industry: Collection, Use, and Sale of Consumer Data for Marketing Purposes''.<ref name="commerce.senate.gov" /> It states that "Today, a wide range of companies known as 'data brokers' collect and maintain data on hundreds of millions of consumers, which they analyze, package, and sell generally without consumer permission or input." Their main findings were that:
*Data brokers collect a huge volume of detailed information on hundreds of millions of consumers.
*Data brokers sell products that identify financially vulnerable consumers.
*Data broker products provide information about consumer offline behavior to tailor online outreach by marketers.
*Data brokers operate behind a veil of secrecy.

The information produced by data brokers has been criticized for enabling discrimination in pricing, services and opportunities. For example, a May 2014 White House report found that web searches that included black-seeming first names such as Jermaine were more likely to result in ads being displayed that include the word "arrest," compared with web searches including white-seeming first names such as Geoffrey.<ref name=":0" />

An Online Information Broker FAQ<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.privacyrights.org/online-info-broker-faq | title=Online Information Broker FAQ | access-date=20 April 2012 | archive-date=19 August 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819202252/https://www.privacyrights.org/online-info-broker-faq | url-status=dead }}</ref> is published by [[Privacy Rights Clearinghouse]] (PRC), a nonprofit [[consumer organization]] in the United States. PRC also maintains a list of information brokers, with links to their privacy policies, terms of service, and opt-out provisions.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.privacyrights.org/online-information-brokers-list | title=Privacy Rights Clearinghouse | access-date=20 April 2012 | archive-date=11 September 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911213818/https://www.privacyrights.org/online-information-brokers-list | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Data brokers have also faced legal charges for security breaches due to poor data security practices.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2008/03/agency-announces-settlement-separate-actions-against-retailer-tjx | title=Agency Announces Settlement of Separate Actions Against Retailer TJX, and Data Brokers Reed Elsevier and Seisint for Failing to Provide Adequate Security for Consumers Data | date=27 March 2008 }}</ref>