What Does the Consumer Data Industry Know About You? - Rebecca J. Rosen - The Atlantic

What Does the Consumer Data Industry Know About You? - Rebecca J. Rosen - The Atlantic

Enjoy a bodice-ripping page-turner from time to time? You're on a purchasable list. (Reuters)

ProPublica's Lois Beckett has done yeowoman's work and just published an informative report on the huge variety of personal information the consumer data industry now tracks.
Here is a breakdown of her findings:

1. The Basics

• Demographic data such as name, address, age, race, occupation, education
• "Life-event triggers." Are you getting married? Soon to have a baby? Beckett reports that one company, Experian, updates its list of expectant and new parents "weekly."
• Salary and wages: "A subsidiary of credit reporting company Equifax even collects detailed salary and paystub information for roughly 38 percent of employed Americans, as NBC news reported," Beckett writes. But, she adds, "that if a mortgage company or other lender wants to access information about your salary, they must obtain your permission to do so." Read more...

Related articles

• What Does the Consumer Data Industry Know About You? (theatlantic.com)
• Lois Beckett: Everything We Know About What Data Brokers Know About You (guernicamag.com)
• Rebecca J. Rosen: Why we should stop asking whether bloggers are journalists (nextlevelofnews.com)
• How to Get a Million Facebook Likes and a Free Puppy (allthingsd.com)
• 10 things credit bureaus won't say (marketwatch.com)
• Everything We Know About What Data Brokers Know About You (boiseweekly.com)
• Report: You Do Not Use Facebook Nearly as Much as You Think You Do - Rebecca J. Rosen - The Atlantic (theatlantic.com)