Data Brokers Infer Sensitive Details From Consumer Data and Sell Profiles Data brokers analyze records and location data to infer health, financial, religious and political characteristics, then sell those predictions to advertisers and other businesses. Federal cases show some profiles reached fraudsters. Data brokers collect personal information and then analyze it to predict health conditions, finances, religious beliefs and potential vulnerabilities. Those predictions may be wrong, yet they can still shape how companies treat you. Profiles may be sold or shared with businesses you have never heard of. They know where you live. They may know your phone number, your relatives names and roughly what your house is worth. Most people have at least a vague sense that data brokers collect personal information.Far fewer realize how detailed the resulting labels can become. Data brokers use algorithms, compare records from different sources and sort people into categories. Those categories predict interests, circumstances and behavior. Depending on the company and the information involved, the profiles may be sold or shared widely.FTC Documents Detailed ProfilingThe Federal Trade Commission documented this practice years ago. Its investigation found brokers combined information from multiple sources to infer sensitive characteristics, including income, religion, political views and health conditions. Acxiom, a major data company, developed a segmentation system called PersonicX that grouped households into lifestyle categories. One documented historical category was Rural Everlasting.According to the FTC, it described older adults with relatively low income and educational attainment. Other categories included Urban Scramble and Mobile Mixers. The FTC also documented how companies used location information to create more specific advertising audiences. InMarket offered categories such as Christian church goers, parents of preschoolers, and wealthy and not healthy.The FTC later restricted InMarket use and sale of sensitive location data. Oracle BlueKai advertising business helped advertisers use extensive consumer data for targeting. Oracle shut down its advertising products in September 2024. Its history still shows how sophisticated the industry became.Health Data Outside HIPAAA label does not have to be accurate to influence how a company views you. Health-related labels illustrate the problem. HIPAA protects health information handled by covered healthcare organizations and their business associates. Health information independently gathered or inferred by other businesses may fall outside HIPAA protections.Searching for information about diabetes does not mean you have diabetes. You could be researching the condition for a family member. Advertising systems may still use that activity as one of several signals when building a profile. Other laws may apply but may not match HIPAA protections.Financial labels are also common. Data companies have offered categories based on estimated income, spending behavior and financial circumstances. These include people classified as affluent, price-sensitive or likely to respond to certain financial offers. The Justice Department case against Epsilon Data Management is a troubling example.Epsilon Fraud and Financial DataFederal prosecutors said Epsilon used sophisticated modeling to identify consumers likely to respond to solicitations. It sold information about more than 30 million Americans to operators of fraudulent schemes. Epsilon agreed to pay 150 million dollars as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. Data brokers have also inferred religious interests and political leanings.Predictions may draw on location patterns, purchases, public records and other data. The FTC documented a Christian church goers segment. Visiting a church does not mean a person belongs to that faith. Someone researching a political candidate does not automatically support that candidate.Profiling systems can still use those signals to group people into audiences. Other categories involve personal life stages, such as parents with young children, empty nesters and households at different stages. Businesses use these classifications to decide what products or services to advertise. To see how much personal information may already be exposed, consumers can get a free scan at CyberGuy.com.A free CyberGuy LIVE class will cover five ways to travel smarter and save money. Kurt CyberGuy Knutsson will share practical ways to protect your trip and wallet this holiday travel season. The class covers securing your phone and personal information, finding better travel deals, avoiding common scams, saving on bookings and using technology to reduce stress. It takes place Saturday, October 31, at 11 AM ET, 8 AM PT. Registration is free at CyberGuyLive.com.