Data Brokers: Shadow Industry, Privacy Flashpoint, Research Problem
By Marc Dresner, IIR
I attend a lot of research conferences and I've
noticed that when the subject of privacy comes up, people frequently check out'laptops
open, fingers wander to phones, sometimes eyes even roll'
heretofore privacy has been pretty much a non-issue for researchers. Arguably
no other industry adheres to more rigid privacy standards.
world where data are no longer rare, and researchers obviously aren't the only
ones who trade in information nowadays.
Privacy' backlash in response to Big Data collection
fields and sectors'from public policy to data security'warn of a mounting 'Big
Privacy' backlash in response to passive Big Data collection.
public discourse on privacy of late, perhaps it's time to start, because the outcome of
this debate could affect consumer research.
concern, you're increasingly likely to hear "data brokers" mentioned.
researchers who've told me they haven't heard of this $250 billion industry,
especially since so many of our companies (or our clients, if you're a research
firm) do business with them.
consumers from public records and private sources and sell it to marketers.
The chief complaint against
them is that they often do so without people's knowledge or consent.
It's also a relatively unregulated space, which coupled with the perceived lack of transparency'some call it a 'shadow
industry''makes people uncomfortable.
Now, these aren't shadowy guys in sunglasses
lurking in alleyways hocking hot dossiers under their trench coats (although
that's how they're increasingly depicted).
Acxiom and Equifax, as well as a lot of smaller companies you may not have
heard of.
and not-so-responsible actors, but it's the
possibility of the latter that's captured the attention of regulators and
the media.
information by marketers is being characterized as somehow sinister or potentially dangerous
What's especially troubling here is that the collection and use of consumer information by marketers, in general, is being increasingly characterized as somehow sinister or at least potentially dangerous to people.
Consider...
- CBS's '60 Minutes' aired a breathless segment on data brokers back in March that made admirable use of government surveillance anxiety in the wake of the NSA/Snowden scandal to scare the heck out of the viewing audience.
- The FTC issued a report May 27 calling on Congress to regulate data brokers (with only a slightly less ominous tone than the '60 Minutes' episode).
- A subsequent commentary about data brokers published online by the Wall Street Journal'that bastion of left-wing conspiracy nuts'went so far as to compare Big Data to the Nazis' use of IBM punch cards to identify and round up Jews and enemies of the state. (The lead sentence of that article: 'Adolph Hitler used Big Data.')
There's more where that came from,
but you get the idea.
'threat' to personal privacy that has already catalyzed a backlash
Data brokers have come to represent a 'threat''whether
real or imagined'to personal privacy that has already catalyzed a backlash.
suspension of the 2000 Safe Harbor agreement with the U.S. over alleged breach
of consumer privacy by data brokers, and earlier this month, the Center for Digital Democracy filed a complaint with the FTC alleging the same.
into the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations.
Congress for action. It's not unlikely that we'll see such calls intensify
domestically.
or'as is the case with the '60 Minutes' coverage'conflate research companies
and data brokers.
This needs to be taken seriously.
It's time for the research industry to engage, before the court of public opinion renders a verdict that may not serve the common good.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marc Dresner is IIR USA's sr. editor and special communication project lead. He is the former executive editor of Research Business Report, a confidential newsletter for the marketing research and consumer insights industry. He may be reached at mdresner@iirusa.com. Follow him @mdrezz.